You Reap What you Sew
by LuckyDuck29
Summary: Can Darkwing and Launchpad reform Bushroot? What happens when the Fearsome Five develop psychic powers? Please see my profile for the link to the ld29info forum for the author's notes.
1. The Battle

"Boy, the city's been quiet lately," Darkwing commented to Launchpad as they patrolled the city in the Ratcatcher. "There hasn't been any real crime since Megavolt caused that city-wide blackout last Friday." Darkwing chuckled derisively. "That battery-powered buffoon actually thought I wouldn't catch him if he didn't steal the light bulbs directly! Did he honestly think I wouldn't know who was using a teleporter to steal light bulbs of all things? It's as obvious as if Bushroot had stolen plants, or Quackerjack had stolen toys! But Darkwing Duck discontinued Megavolt's maniacal mischief!"

Launchpad rolled his eyes as he listened to DW boost his own ego. He knew that when crime got slow, or DW got scared, these ego trips were his way of telling himself that he could get out of a sticky or dangerous situation, or that the city still needed him. He needed to tell himself that he really was a hero and the city's protector.

Launchpad wondered about the Fearsome Five, too. In a way, Negaduck and the liquidator would not have gained super powers if Darkwing had left them alone. Launchpad was never sure what happened to drive Quackerjack insane, but Darkwing had told him the story of how Elmo Sputterspark became Megavolt.

It was weird to think that if it hadn't been for Megavolt, Darkwing might not exist. Drake Mallard would never have had to put on a costume to save prom night if Megavolt hadn't tried to wreck it in the first place.

Bushroot was another story. Launchpad always got the feeling that as evil as Bushroot was, there was a frightened little boy underneath all that villainy. There was just something in his eyes that told Launchpad the mutant plant duck wasn't all bad.

"Megavolt seemed as surprised by the blackout as the rest of the city," Launchpad commented when DW took a breath.

"Well, maybe he was, but- wait!" Darkwing yelled suddenly, excited. He skidded to a halt and turned around, going back toward the Saint Canard Elementary school.

"What's up, DW?" Launchpad scanned the surroundings, but couldn't see anything unusual.

"Bushroot's over there!" Darkwing pointed towards the playground. "He's trying to uproot that tree! And he's not alone either; Negaduck and the rest of the Fearsome Five are with him! When did Megavolt get out of jail?" he asked, almost as an afterthought. "Oh, well, doesn't matter; they're destroying public property! Let's go!"

They got out of the Ratcatcher and Darkwing found a little used path that only the school kids and he knew about. The path ended right where Bushroot and the Fearsome Five were standing. Darkwing knew there was a secret entrance into the boiler room there; he had cased out the city for secret places long before he met Gos and Launchpad. He never knew when Darkwing would have to make an appearance and he needed hidden places to change and make his entrances.

The entrance to the boiler room was about halfway up the path, so Darkwing could make his entrance there and be heard from where the five were now arguing about something. Darkwing couldn't make out what they were saying, but their voices were raised slightly.

"In here, LP!" Darkwing whispered enthusiastically, pointing toward the trap door that led into one side of the boiler room. "We'll go out the other trap door to reach them."

"But how will they hear your entrance?" Launchpad whispered back. He knew DW hated to ruin a good entrance.

"The boiler room echoes and is noisy. I can talk over it, but I don't think they'll be able to tell where we're coming from."

It only took a few seconds to run from one trap door to the other. Darkwing didn't even need a smoke bomb this time; he was already hidden, but he used one anyway, for effect.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night," Darkwing said dramatically. "I am the dog that eats your homework!"

Launchpad smiled, thinking he'd have to remember that one for the next time DW wanted him to pose as Darkwing decoy. He always wondered why DW thought that would work; they looked nothing alike. DW was short and skinny and Launchpad was tall and muscular. They didn't even sound alike. Anyone who had heard Darkwing speak would know instantly that it wasn't really him.

"I," Darkwing finished, as he shot out of the boiler room through the trap door, "am Darkwing-" He and Launchpad popped up right in front of the liquidator, who immediately drenched them both in water. "Duck," Darkwing finished lamely, as he choked on the water he'd swallowed.

Launchpad was used to these little mishaps by now and had the foresight to keep his mouth tightly closed to avoid swallowing water. He let DW think he wasn't all that smart because he believed in the caped crime fighter's cause. If saving the city from dangerous people like Negaduck and Fowl meant pretending to dumb himself down in DW's eyes, he would gladly do it. At least they were protecting the city from the super villains. The cops couldn't handle them, but Launchpad and DW could. Experience had deflated Darkwing's ego enough so that he knew when he needed Launchpad or Gosalyn's help, or even the help of Gizmoduck and the rest of the justice ducks, but not enough so that he could handle his sidekick knowing something he didn't, other than how to fly.

"Tired of super heroes always wrecking your fun?" the liquidator asked no one in particular. "Fed up with smoke bombs and corny lines? Well, then, Liquidator's got just the thing for you!" He looked triumphantly at the rest of the Fearsome Five, sent a whirl pool at Darkwing that sent him back into the trap door of the boiler room with a startled scream, and said, "Liquidator's patented pest control! Introducing the do-gooder dissipation system! This system is guaranteed to send away that annoying-"

Liquidator was so wrapped up in his commercial that he forgot about Launchpad. Negaduck, Quackerjack, Bushroot and Megavolt were all too busy laughing at Liquidator's speech and Darkwing's tumble back into the trap door to notice Launchpad until he made his move.

DW had been teaching him Quack Fu. He used one of the marshal arts moves on Negaduck and the liquidator at the same time, then quickly spun to Megavolt and Bushroot and took them out with the same move. Quackerjack, suddenly realizing he was in trouble, tried to reach for one of his laser toys.

"Oh no yah don't," Launchpad said. He through the toymaker to the ground with the rest of his friends. Launchpad had purposely not hurt them; just temporarily disabled them.

"You took out all of them?" Darkwing asked, finally able to climb back out of the trap door. He rubbed his head where he'd struck it against the boiler when he fell, not knowing whether to be proud that his sidekick had picked up his Quack Fu lessons so quickly or annoyed that he'd missed all the action.

Launchpad seemed to know what his boss was thinking. He grinned, looking both proud and sheepish. Darkwing decided to let himself feel proud of his friend because it had been his first Quack Fu fight. He had done it alone, quickly and with no trouble. "Besides," Darkwing thought, "if I know these guys, I haven't missed all the action. They'll be up soon."

"They weren't expecting me to do anything," Launchpad said. "They thought I wouldn't be any trouble. They thought I was just gonna wait until you got back up here."

As he spoke, the five started getting to their feet. Darkwing and Launchpad saw this at the same time and prepared for battle.

Negaduck went for Darkwing while Megavolt and the liquidator went for Launchpad. Quackerjack and Bushroot stood back. Negaduck wanted Darkwing for himself and they knew what water and electricity did together.

So did Launchpad. He scrambled out of the way, then separated them with a Quack Fu kick. They attacked just as Launchpad kicked them away. Their charges went wild and hit each other. Fortunately, they'd been kicked far enough that the water and electricity didn't hurt anyone else, but the liquidator had landed . near the tree Bushroot had been trying to uproot before. There was another one a few feet away from that, but it wasn't hurt.

"You killed him!" Bushroot cried, sounding to Launchpad as if he'd just lost his best friend. "You murderers!"

He reached out his vines for all three of them. Megavolt and the liquidator were too dazed to move yet, so the vines pinned them with no trouble. Launchpad could move easily, though, and sidestepped the vines.

"I don't think so, Moe!" Quackerjack said in Mr. Banana Brain's voice, coming up behind Launchpad. He reached for his laser toy again.

"Leave him be, Quacky!" Bushroot yelled angrily. "This murderer is mine! He killed Harvey!"

"Harvey?" Launchpad thought.

Out of the corner of his eye, Launchpad could see the fight between Darkwing and Negaduck. He and the rest of the five were close enough that they could also hear it. Darkwing was taunting Negaduck and seemed to be enjoying himself. Negaduck was angry, as always.

Darkwing had been watching Launchpad out of the corner of his eye, too, as he fought and taunted Negaduck. Launchpad had proven tonight that he could handle himself in a Quack Fu fight, but he was still a beginner. Darkwing wanted to make sure he could help if he was needed. He felt guilty leaving LP on his own in a four against one fight, but they both knew Negaduck was the greatest threat. The others were either too unstable or too unintelligent to do any real damage, even together, and even with the combined powers of Liquidator and Megavolt. "One kick and they were down for the count," Darkwing thought, mentally congratulating Launchpad.

Negaduck immediately noticed Darkwing's first glance toward the other battle and tried to take advantage of the situation.

"What's the matter, Dork Wing? Afraid you'll end up with a sizzled sidekick?"

Darkwing had been afraid of that, but just as Negaduck finished, Launchpad kicked and the charges from his attackers hit each other.

"No, Negaduck," Darkwing said confidently, "but you should be afraid of ending up with a crushed cranium!"

He kicked at Negaduck's face. His evil double went down, but was up again in a second. But they both looked over when they heard Bushroot yell, "you killed him!" Darkwing smirked when he saw that it was only the tree.

"If he wasn't so useful, I'd feed him to the biggest herbivore I could find," Negaduck said under his breath. "He's the only villain I know who'd name a tree."

"He killed Harvey!" Bushroot yelled.

"Harvey?" Darkwing thought.

"I haven't had any of this action," Quackerjack whined to Bushroot. "Besides, you already have two victims."

"All right," Bushroot said reluctantly, "but just make sure you let me have a crack at him later."

"Oh, Goody! It's play-" Launchpad kicked the laser out of his hand. "Hey!" Quackerjack whined. "No fair!"

"He's got the mind of a kid," Launchpad thought. "I wonder."

"Fair?" he asked Quackerjack in the tone of a grownup reprimanding a child. "You weren't fair either."

"What do you mean?"

"You were gonna attack me with a laser, but I'm not armed."

Quackerjack thought about it, then said, "but I'm a bad guy! I'm supposed to fight dirty!"

"And I'm a good guy," Launchpad said patiently. Now he was the adult trying to teach something to the child, trying to get him to understand a difficult concept. "I'm supposed to make sure you don't hurt anyone. That laser's dangerous."

At the same time as Launchpad disarmed Quackerjack, Darkwing caught Negaduck in a headlock. Negaduck tried to simultaneously break the hold and kick at Darkwing, but it wasn't working. Darkwing's bottom half was far enough away that Negaduck's kicks couldn't reach him, but it was all he could do to keep Negaduck from breaking the headlock. As the look-alikes struggled, they could hear what was going on over by the recently fried tree. Fortunately for everyone, and for the school building, the water from Liquidator's pinned and still dazed body had prevented the disastrous fire that could have been caused by Megavolt's electricity.

"Well, Quackerjack said, "I could give you a laser, too. Hey, then we could have a duel!"

"You- nitwit!" Negaduck grunted. "He's playing mind games with you! He's trying to use psychology to get you to do what he wants!"

Launchpad knew most of the five were easily distracted, so before Quackerjack had a chance to think about what Negaduck said, he used more child's logic.

"Well, now if we fought it would be fair because you don't have your laser either."

"Hey, yeah! OK, let's fight! It's play time!"

"Idiot," Negaduck said.

Megavolt groaned from his position underneath Bushroot's vines.

"Uh-oh," Launchpad thought. "We gotta wrap this up. Bushroot's busy with Liquidator and Megavolt for now, but if they get free I'm gonna be outnumbered again. I don't know how long I can stop all of them. I'm still a Quack-Fu beginner."

Darkwing, hearing Megavolt's groan, was thinking along the same lines as Launchpad. Besides, this thing with Negaduck was getting monotonous. He suddenly broke the headlock, and before Negaduck could react, threw him to the ground. Unfortunately for Negaduck, Darkwing hadn't remembered how close they were to the trap door to the boiler room. Negaduck fell through and Darkwing ran to help Launchpad.

"Quackerjack has no idea how to fight," Darkwing thought. "He doesn't even have good defensive moves. He just does that one two combination. Launchpad could defeat him with or without Quack-Fu. LP must know that because he's not using Quack-Fu anymore."

Liquidator managed to slip out from under Bushroot's trap and started towards the fight. Darkwing blocked his way. It was time to even the odds.

"Note to self," Liquidator said weakly. His speech was slightly slurred. "Water and electricity don't mix well. Throw a few vines from an angry mutant plant duck into the mix and you've really got problems."

"What did he do to you?" Darkwing asked curiously.

"I'm not sure of all of it, but when I came to, he was cutting off the circulation in my arms and legs and tightening his vines around my neck. I think he was doing the same to Sparky."

"Don't call me Sparky," Megavolt said weakly. "Let me go, Bushy! We didn't mean to kill that-"

"Well, you did; the three of you murdered him! I thought you two were my friends! But you're just like Dr. Gary and Dr. Larson!"

Bushroot suddenly tightened the vines around Megavolt and reached out more, trying to capture Liquidator again. They reached Darkwing first, since he was blocking Liquidator, and he had to use his buzz saw cufflinks to get free.

"Thanks, Liquidator said, surprised.

"I didn't do that to save you; I did it to get them off me!"

"Bushroot!" Negaduck said angrily. He had climbed up from the trap door and looked as if he didn't know whether he wanted to hurt Darkwing or Bushroot more. Darkwing knew he'd try for both if he had the chance. "Let Megavolt go! How do you expect to outnumber these two do-gooders if you're trying to squeeze two of our guys to death?"

"But they-"

"Shut up and release Sparky!"

"Don't call me Sparky!" Megavolt said, more strongly this time.

Bushroot released him, glaring at everyone.

"This is getting old and going no where," Darkwing thought. "No, that's not exactly right. Launchpad's finally tired Quackerjack out."

Quackerjack had put his hands up in surrender. Launchpad put his hands down and Quackerjack sat on a nearby bench, panting and sweating.

"OK," Darkwing thought, "one down, four to go."

Darkwing wasn't about to let Liquidator and Megavolt attack together again. He was already blocking Liquidator, so he went for him. Launchpad took out Megavolt.

"That was easier than before," Launchpad thought. "He must still be weak from Liquidator's water and Bushroot's vines."

"Want some more of these?" Darkwing asked Bushroot. He'd been about to reach more vines around Darkwing and Launchpad. Bushroot hated Darkwing's buzz saw cufflinks. It hurt to have your vines cut off. He retreated.

"Three down, two to go, LP!" Darkwing said triumphantly.

"You mean four down and one to go, DW," Launchpad said with a grin. "Look over there.

Darkwing laughed. Quackerjack had fallen asleep on the bench. Negaduck saw, too, but before he could yell for Quackerjack to wake up, Darkwing made his move.

"We could fight all night," he thought. "I wouldn't mind, but it wouldn't get us anywhere. I want to know what they were up to. Why would Bushroot of all people be trying to uproot a tree? He saves trees; he doesn't want to see them hurt or moved out of their natural habitat. My next move has to be logical, not physical."

"What are you guys doing here, anyway?" he asked, in the tone he knew would infuriate his enemies. ""Have you decided to take night classes? Good idea, if you ask me. Between the five of you, there's gotta be at least half a brain."

"Where's your other sidekick, Dip Wing?" Negaduck jeered.

"What other sidekick?" Darkwing and Launchpad asked together.

"You know, that little girl that's always hanging around you. If you really wanted a fair fight you should have brought her along. She's a feisty one. Quackerjack would have been evenly matched with her. You're big on fairness, so instead of the big guy you should have let Quacky-"

Darkwing attacked. The thought of Gosalyn being hurt by any member of the Fearsome Five, or anyone else for that matter, made him see red. Bushroot moved for Launchpad again, but tripped over Harvey. A cliché went through Launchpad's mind. "Was that trip necessary?" But the look on Bushroot's face stopped him from saying it out loud. This tree really had been Bushroot's friend.

"Why not?" Launchpad thought. "He doesn't have any real friends. The rest of the Fearsome Five just use him for his abilities. Those guys at the lab did everything they could to make him feel like an outsider. Even Dr. Dendron rejected him, at least in Bushroot's mind. Trees and plants can't hurt him like people can."

"What were you guys gonna use Harvey for?" he asked Bushroot sympathetically.

None of the others were paying any attention to them. Darkwing and Negaduck were too busy fighting, Megavolt and Liquidator were still dazed and Quackerjack was still asleep. It was almost as if Bushroot and Launchpad were the only two in the school yard. But not even they had any idea that Launchpad's show of compassion for one of his and Darkwing's worst enemies would change the future of Saint Canard.


	2. Vandalism and Voices

"The information we need to defeat Darkwing is at the Saint Canard Elementary School," Negaduck had said earlier that day. "Once we find it we can use it against him.

"What information?" Liquidator asked.

"Yeah," Quackerjack made Mr. Banana Brain say. "What's the plan, Stan?"

"You'll find out the whole plan on a need to know basis," Negaduck said irritably. "Now don't interrupt!"

He took out a map from the desk drawer. They were using an old abandoned apartment building on the bad side of town. The building was condemned, but not scheduled to be demolished for another week. They were looking for another hideout, but Negaduck wanted to get this done before they had to go house hunting. He wouldn't tell them why. Bushroot thought Negaduck was keeping his secrets partly because he didn't trust them. He thought they'd either mess up or accidentally let their plans slip to the wrong person. The other reason for the secrets was because Negaduck wanted to have power over them by keeping their curiosity peaked. They all wanted to defeat Darkwing for their own reasons. If this information, whatever it was, could be used to beat him, they all wanted in. Negaduck's belief that they were all idiots was probably the main reason for his secretiveness, but Bushroot thought the power aspect was at least a small part of it. Negaduck would do anything to make people do what he wanted.

"This is a map of the area surrounding the school," Negaduck continued. "We're going to vandalize it while we look for what we need. We won't vandalize the office; we don't want anyone to know we were looking for anything specific. We want them to think it was just a simple act of vandalism and breaking and entering."

"Can we take some light bulbs?" Megavolt asked eagerly.

"And some toys?" Quackerjack asked in almost the same tone.

"All right; it'll add to the vandalism theory."

"But what are we looking for?" Bushroot asked.

"You know that little girl that's always hanging around Darkwing?"

"Yeah," the others said.

"Her name is Gosalyn. I know that for a couple of reasons, and not just because he's said her name. I want to find out how they're connected. I want to use her to get to Darkwing."

"How?" Megavolt asked.

"You'll know that when the time comes. For now, let's get ready. We need to get some spray paint and things. We're also going to vandalize the grounds; pick grass, pull up trees, take the swings down. Don't argue about the trees, Bushy; I mean it!"

Bushroot had been about to argue, but Negaduck's glare stopped him.

"I'll pull up the trees, then," he said. He planned to replant them somewhere else where they'd be safe, and he could explain what they were doing and help them be less afraid with his plant telepathy.

Bushroot had been wondering if Darkwing would show up at the school. Part of him was hoping he would. He didn't want to hurt a little girl and he knew Negaduck would have no problem with killing Gosalyn if that would serve his purpose. Bushroot considered himself to be evil by necessity. Negaduck was just evil. The others were insane, which caused them to be evil. Bushroot didn't know if the others would ever kill a child, but he didn't think so. He hadn't killed anyone since Gary and Larson, but he felt they deserved it.

"OK," Megavolt said when they got to the school, "time to free some of my little friends!"

"No," Quackerjack said, "it's play time!"

"No, time to save the trees first," Bushroot said.

"I say we just-" Liquidator began.

""Shut up!" Negaduck yelled. "We'll all have a chance to do what we want. Liquidator, find a way in through the pipes. Cause a flood in the bathrooms. Quackerjack, break through the doors with one of your toys. Megavolt, take out their power. Bushroot, you start moving the trees and plants. I'm going to destroy their-"

That was when Darkwing showed up and everything went wrong for the Fearsome Five.

Bushroot knew the area around the school well. He'd made friends with all the plants and trees there. He talked to them and explained that he wanted to move them somewhere safer. He explained that Negaduck would hurt them if they didn't let Bushroot handle them. They agreed, and Bushroot pulled up an oak he called Tina. As he was uprooting Harvey they heard Darkwing make his entrance from the boiler room.

Bushroot laughed as he saw Darkwing fall back into the trap door. He was surprised that his big sidekick hadn't choked on Liquidator's water, too, but then he saw that Launchpad's mouth was closed. "He must have seen how close Liquidator was to them." Bushroot thought. "He's smarter than I thought." Then Liquidator went into his commercial and Bushroot and the others cracked up, even Negaduck, until Launchpad attacked. The next thing Bushroot knew, he and the rest of the five were on the ground. He stared up at Harvey in surprise.

"What happened?" he asked the maple telepathically.

"The big duck with the red leaves kicked you with one of his limbs," Harvey said.

"Him? But Darkwing's the one who-"

Darkwing climbed out of the trap door.

"You took out all of them?" he asked Launchpad.

Bushroot thought Darkwing's tone was odd. He sounded like he was annoyed and happy at the same time.

"They weren't expecting me to do anything," Launchpad explained.

Bushroot saw Negaduck getting to his feet and asked Harvey to help him up. Harvey's lower branches pushed under him, giving him the leverage he needed.

Bushroot stood back out of the way with Quackerjack as Liquidator and Megavolt went for Launchpad and Negaduck attacked Darkwing. Negaduck wouldn't appreciate help and helping the other two could only get Bushroot or Quackerjack hurt. Electricity was dangerous enough, but mix it with water and it became even more deadly. It was like being under a tree during a lightning storm.

Liquidator and Megavolt went flying when Launchpad attacked. Liquidator landed near Harvey, sizzling, and poor Harvey was fried. Bushroot felt a rush of grief and rage. Harvey had been his friend almost as long as Spike. He was glad Spike was home safe.

"You killed him! You murderers!"

He attacked Sparky and the liquidator, but couldn't get Launchpad; He was too fast for Bushroot's vines. Quackerjack moved for Launchpad and Bushroot grudgingly agreed to let him handle the third murderer while he dealt with the two traitors he already had trapped.

Bushroot didn't pay much attention to the two battles going on around him. He was too busy trying to think of how to avenge Harvey. He couldn't fry either of these two killers, so he'd have to use his own brand of justice. Instead of death by electrocution or lethal injection, these two were going to be sentenced to death by asphyxiation. He tightened the vines around them slowly, starting with their legs and working his way up, but he was so upset that he forgot about Liquidator's ability to dematerialize long enough to slip out of the trap. He was so subtle that Bushroot wasn't even aware of it until it was too late.

Just before Liquidator freed himself, Megavolt groaned. Darkwing must have heard because he suddenly through Negaduck down the trap door and ran to help Launchpad. He was still fighting Quackerjack and the toy maker was losing badly. He knew nothing about hand to hand combat. Launchpad was beating him easily.

Bushroot listened as Darkwing and Liquidator had a short conversation about water, electricity and angry mutant plant ducks, then Megavolt started whining to be let go.

"We didn't mean to kill that-"

Bushroot became even angrier. Harvey had been a living being; he wasn't "that" anything!

"Well, you did! The three of you murdered him! I thought you two were my friends! But you're just like Dr. Gary and Dr. Larson!"

He tightened the vines around Megavolt and tried to get Liquidator again. The vines got Darkwing because he was in the way and he used his buzz saw cufflinks to cut them off. Bushroot didn't give Darkwing the satisfaction of screaming as the vines fell and the ends still attached to Bushroot bled sap. Then Negaduck was out of the trap door and yelling at Bushroot to let go of Sparky. He refused to listen, so Bushroot had no choice. He was afraid of Negaduck.

Quackerjack, exhausted, surrendered and sat down on a bench. Then Darkwing attacked Liquidator and Launchpad went for Megavolt. Bushroot tried for Darkwing, but he threatened him with the buzz saw cufflinks again.

Bushroot saw Quackerjack asleep on the bench, but he didn't really care. Normally he would have woken him up and gotten him to help, but now he just wanted to go home. This botched up operation had cost him one of his best friends.

"What are you guys doing here, anyway?" Darkwing asked suddenly. "Have you decided to take night classes? Good idea, if you ask me. Between the five of you there's gotta be at least half a brain."

Negaduck retorted by asking about Gosalyn and Darkwing attacked. Bushroot moved for Launchpad again, but tripped over something. He looked and saw that it was Harvey. Suddenly he didn't want to fight anymore. He wished he'd never gotten involved with the Fearsome Five. He hated Negaduck for intimidating him into following his orders, Sparky and the liquidator for their part in Harvey's death, and Quackerjack, Darkwing and Launchpad on principle. Then he saw something in Launchpad's eyes that made his thoughts break off. He couldn't place it because it was so unfamiliar to him. It made him think of Rhoda calling him Reginald and saying she felt sorry for him.

"What were you guys gonna use Harvey for?"

Even the tone reminded Bushroot a little of Rhoda. He had no idea how to react to this. He would have thought it was a joke, but his instincts told him it wasn't. He looked up at Launchpad, directly into the gentle blue eyes.

"Is Darkwing's sidekick feeling bad for me?" he thought. "That doesn't make any sense; he's the enemy."

When Bushroot was confused, he heard two voices arguing in his head. One was Bushroot as he was now, the one who had killed Gary and Larson for making fun of him. The other was Reggie, his younger self. This was the part of his mind that hadn't been twisted by isolation and constant ridicule. They started arguing now.

"He's just trying to get information for his boss," the mental Bushroot said.

"Maybe not," Reggie said. "Look at his face. He really does look sorry. He doesn't seem like the type who could act that well."

"I like nature, too," Launchpad said quietly. "I really didn't mean for Harvey to get killed. I just reacted; I was trying to get those two away from me before they gave me hydrotherapy and electro shock therapy at the same time. I'm really sorry about Harvey."

"See?" Reggie said.

"It doesn't matter," mental Bushroot said. "You can't tell him what he wants to know. Negaduck would come after you with a weed whacker."

"Maybe Darkwing would protect you," Reggie said. He was still child-like and it made him very naïve sometimes.

"Are you crazy?" mental Bushroot demanded.

Bushroot never had the chance to find out which of the voices would win. There was a sudden startled, squeaky "yikes!" from Darkwing and Negaduck came running towards them. Launchpad and Bushroot looked over and saw that Negaduck and Darkwing had gotten near the trap door again and Darkwing had fallen through again.

"Let's get out of here!" Negaduck yelled angrily. "We're not gonna get what we came for tonight!"

He kicked Quackerjack awake as he passed, then yelled for Bushroot to grab Liquidator and Sparky. They were still too dazed to move, so Bushroot wrapped vines around them and dragged them towards the minivan they were using. They had found it in a garage a few blocks away from the school and stolen it, just because Negaduck felt like stealing something.

Launchpad ran to help Darkwing. Bushroot looked back at him as he ran with Liquidator and Megavolt, surprised by the sudden thought that he and Launchpad might have been friends if they weren't on opposite sides.


	3. Seeds of Doubt

Launchpad wasn't sure whether Bushroot would answer his questions or respond to his condolences, but he felt like he had to try. It was the same instinct that told him there was good in Bushroot. Besides, he really did feel guilty about Harvey. He knew he wasn't directly responsible, but he had kicked Liquidator in that direction.

Launchpad could see that Bushroot was debating with himself whether or not to answer. He could almost hear the mental argument. Then, Darkwing squeaked and Negaduck was screaming for the five to get out of there and Bushroot took off. He looked back at Launchpad, though, and as he ran to help DW, he was suddenly very curious about what was going through the plant duck's head. The look was almost friendly.

"You'd think that would have taken a lot longer than it did," DW said, glancing at the clock on the dash board as he started the Ratcatcher. Launchpad didn't respond. He was looking in the direction the Fearsome Five had gone. Darkwing wasn't chasing after them because by the time he'd gotten out of the trap door their head start was too big.

"Something wrong, LP?"

"Huh? No, I was just thinking-"

He broke off. He knew Darkwing would think he was crazy.

"What?" DW asked.

Launchpad looked over at him as Darkwing pulled out of the parking lot.

"Should I tell him?" he thought. "He'd think I was crazy, but what if Bushroot really is good? What if he could be reformed? We could use him on our side, especially against the other four. He might be the only one who knows those guys better than DW."

"I don't think 'Bushroot's all bad," he said after a few seconds. He hadn't meant to blurt it out, but that was how it sounded, as if he wanted to say it and get it over with. He waited for DW's reaction.

Darkwing looked at him briefly, then quickly put his eyes back on the road. He wanted to stare at Launchpad, but knew he couldn't afford to break traffic laws. How would it look for Darkwing Duck of all people to be given a traffic ticket, or end up in an accident because he wasn't paying attention to his driving?

"What?" Darkwing squeaked. "You think Bushroot isn't all bad? Have you lost your mind? He's evil! You ended up with a pumpkin on your head the first time we fought him, remember?"

"Yeah, but-"

"And have you forgotten the vampire potato? You were turned into a vampire! And what about the time he tried to ruin Christmas? I mean, seriously, LP! Would anybody who had any good in him try to ruin Christmas?"

"Think about it, DW. Bushroot has no friends, except the plants, and one of them was just killed tonight."

"Launchpad, that doesn't mean-"

"Wait; just hear me out, DW."

Darkwing was surprised into silence. He couldn't remember Launchpad ever interrupting him before. Maybe he had, but Darkwing didn't think so. His role as sidekick seemed to prevent him from doing it, until now.

"Bushroot's done some pretty mean things, yeah, but he hasn't killed since Gary and Larson. I don't mean that excuses what he did to them," he went on quickly before Darkwing could argue, "or any of the other stuff he's done. But why did he do any of it?"

"Because he's evil!" Darkwing said, sounding frustrated.

"But why is he evil?"

"Huh?"

"Why doesn't he see it?" Launchpad thought, frustrated himself now. "He's so smart about some things. Why can't he figure this out when it's right in front of him?"

"What made him kill Gary and Larson in the first place?"

Darkwing suddenly felt disoriented. He was the one who asked the questions. He felt like he and Launchpad had somehow done a sudden role reversal and neither of them was very comfortable with it.

"They made fun of him," Darkwing said reluctantly. Then his tone turned petulant. "But that doesn't mean they deserved to die."

"No, of course not, but everyone makes fun of Bushroot; that's my point. It all got to be too much for him. Before the college Dean cut the funding for his project and he mutated he tried to do good. That energy from sunlight idea made a lot of sense. I mean, if plants could do it, why couldn't we? He'd have solved the world's hunger problem if he'd had the chance, but nobody gave him the chance."

Darkwing was surprised. He'd rarely heard Launchpad sound so logical. Launchpad, on the other hand, was feeling more and more exasperated. Sometimes he hated having to pretend to be dumb in order to satisfy DW's ego.

"OK," Darkwing said, "but then why did he suddenly become evil after he mutated?"

"He thought once he could prove his experiment worked people would respect him; he thought he'd finally be liked. They were either afraid of him after he mutated or they still laughed at him."

"But he was a plant, too. I mean, yeah, his experiment worked, but he had to become a plant so it could work."

"Yeah, but he didn't know that then, and once he figured it out he was so hurt that he just reacted, like I did when I kicked Liquidator at Harvey."

"You were fighting for your life, LP!" Darkwing sounded surprised.

"Yeah, I know, but-"

"Wait a minute. Is this sudden sympathy for Bushroot because you feel bad about killing that tree?"

"No, I thought about it earlier tonight when you talked about Megavolt and the teleporter. Harvey was just-" he paused, trying to think of the phrase he wanted. "Well, you saw the way he reacted when Harvey was killed. Would anyone who was all evil feel bad about anyone being killed, especially a tree? If there was no good in Bushroot, would he even care about trees? Wouldn't he just use them to get what he wanted and never mind what it did to them?"

"So Bushroot's reaction to what happened to Harvey has convinced you that he isn't all bad. You thought so before, but what happened tonight confirmed it?"

"Well, it didn't exactly confirm it, but it did give me another reason to think it's possible."

Darkwing thought for a minute. Launchpad was glad he'd finally gotten his point across; he wasn't as good with words as DW. He was smarter than DW thought, but sometimes Darkwing made him feel awkward about expressing himself.

"Well," Darkwing said grudgingly, "you have some good points, Launchpad, but that doesn't change the facts. Actions speak louder than words and none of Bushroot's actions have been good since he was mutated. No matter what he was before, he's evil now."

Launchpad could see that he wasn't going to get any further with Darkwing on this subject. DW was wearing his "end of discussion" face. Maybe Launchpad would be able to give him more proof later. He would watch Bushroot when they met again. He would also try to think, of more past examples to back him up. If Bushroot could be reformed and brought to their side, there could be a drastic shift in the balance of power. Launchpad knew better than to suggest this to Darkwing; there was no way DW would accept the possibility of reforming Bushroot at this point. Also, Launchpad knew instinctively that Bushroot wasn't ready to be reformed yet. He would have to wait and see.

Like Bushroot, Darkwing also had two voices in his head. One was Darkwing Duck, the crime fighter, the trained professional. He acted on what he saw and heard; he squashed the evil and never mind the reasons behind the evil, unless the reason had something crucial, to do with the current case. The other was Drake Mallard, the regular guy. Drake was an objective observer who could step back and look at things from another perspective. But Drake didn't usually have a chance to look at the case objectively until he was out of costume. In some instances, the case was over by then. Sometimes he felt like a split personality. Also like Bushroot, the voices argued at times.

"LP's right about the circumstances surrounding Bushroot's actions," Drake said in Darkwing's head. "No, the circumstances don't excuse the actions, but they do explain them."

"It doesn't matter," mental Darkwing said. "Everyone has choices. Lots of people have bad experiences, but they don't use them as excuses to become criminals. Some people use their experiences to help others in similar situations."

"No one is in the same situation as Bushroot," mental Drake insisted. "He's the only one of his kind now."

"Who's fault is that?"

"Does that matter? He meant well by the experiment, as Launchpad said. Bushroot was trying to make the world better."

"At the time, he was trying to make the world better. Since he became a plant he's done nothing good and hasn't even tried."

"As far as we know he hasn't tried. What if we're wrong?"

"We're not wrong. I've kept a case file on him ever since he mutated; I know everything he's done and none of it was good. Besides, maybe no one is in the same situation as Bushroot, but there are people who have been made fun of all their lives and not turned to a life of crime because of it."

Mental Drake gave up. Darkwing was in his "there's no way I could possibly be wrong" mode. For now, all arguments with Darkwing were over.

But Bushroot was still arguing with himself and had been since Launchpad's question about the Five's use for Harvey. He knew Negaduck would seriously hurt him if he leaked their plans, but he also wanted to keep the little girl from being hurt. His two voices were beginning to give him a headache. He wished he had someone to confide in outside his own mind.

Bushroot suddenly had what he thought was a brilliant idea. He would find a place where no one, not even the trees, knew him. He would find a plant and talk to it, explaining everything, and see what it thought. The plant didn't know him, so it would be objective.

He went to Duckburg. No one knew him there. He could talk to any of the plants.

He went to the park and sat under a tree. The tree, another maple, sensed that he was upset and cradled him with its branches.

"What troubles you, friend?" it asked telepathically. "I sense it has to do with a brother maple. What happened?"

Bushroot told it what had happened to Harvey.

"You gave the tree a human name?" the tree asked, interested. "What human name would you give me?"

"You sound like a Herman to me."

"Herman," the maple said thoughtfully. "I like it."

"OK, your name is Herman then."

"How did you come to be part plant?"

Bushroot decided to start from the beginning. He told Herman about working on his project at the university lab and how Dean Tightbill had pulled his funding. He explained about Gary and Larson constantly teasing him and sabotaging his projects. Bushroot had never really fit in anywhere; he was just too different, even before his mutation. He told Herman everything that had happened from the time of his mutation up to tonight.

"I never wanted to be evil!" he burst out suddenly. "All I've ever wanted was to fit in somewhere, to have someone like me for me! I hate being a misfit!"

"Evil?" Herman asked. "What makes you think you're evil?"

"Haven't you been listening? Look at everything I've done since I became a plant! I even killed-"

"Yes, your actions were evil and you made wrong choices, but you can start making the right choices."

"How? Too much has happened; I've done too many bad things! It's too late!"

"No, friend Bushroot, it's never too late."

"Call me Reggie."

"You still live, friend Reggie. That means you'll still have other choices to make. If you don't want to be evil, then stop doing evil things. You reap what you sew. You say you don't want that little girl, Gosalyn, to be hurt by this Negaduck person. Stop him from hurting her. Sabotage his project, as those two dead scientists continually sabotaged yours."

Bushroot thought about it for a long time. He was still undecided when he left, but at least Herman had given him something else to think about.

If Negaduck had voices in his head, he chose to ignore them. He did what he wanted, how he wanted, when he wanted, and for his own reasons. He considered Bushroot the weakest link in the Fearsome Five. He had a strong feeling that Bushroot's love of nature would be a problem if he didn't do something. Bushroot was too soft and Negaduck had to find a way to harden him up. If he ever needed proof, what happened tonight was it. First he wanted to hurt his allies over the death of a tree, then there was something about the way he was looking at Launchpad that made Negaduck suspicious. Was Bushy thinking of switching sides? Negaduck would have to keep a close watch on him.

He followed Bushroot to Duckburg and watched him sit under the tree. Bushroot could talk to the plants in his head, but used his voice when he had the time. Negaduck heard everything he said.

"He is thinking about switching!" Negaduck thought angrily. He would have to squash this before it got out of his control.


	4. Planting Thoughts

The next morning, as she ate her breakfast and watched Pelican's Island, Gosalyn kept glancing at Launchpad. He seemed different, kind of quiet. He loved Pelican's island, but this morning he seemed to be looking through the TV instead of at it. He didn't look upset, but something was definitely on his mind.

"Twin Beaks!" he said suddenly, excited. "That's it!"

"What's it?" Gosalyn asked. "What about Twin Beaks?"

Launchpad told her about the battle the night before, including the talk he'd had with Darkwing about Bushroot afterward. He explained all his reasons for believing Bushroot was more lonely than evil." Gosalyn voiced a lot of the same arguments as Darkwing had, and added one of her own, the fact that Bushroot had turned her into a slime creature.

"But what about Twin Beaks?" she asked again.

"Bushroot helped us then, and he's teamed up with your dad a few times besides that."

"Launchpad," Drake said irritably as he came down the stairs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, "you're not still thinking Bushroot is good, are you?" Drake was always irritable before he had his coffee.

"He's got some good points, Dad," Gosalyn said.

"He's convinced you?"

"Not yet; I'm still on the fence."

"So am I, really," Launchpad said. "But I'm not convinced that he's all bad either. You didn't see his face when he tripped over Harvey, or when Harvey was killed."

"You're starting to worry me, LP. You're starting to talk about Harvey like he was a real person; that's Bushroot's view. You're sane, remember?"

"Is Bushroot insane?" Launchpad asked.

"Of course he is!" Drake squeaked.

"No," Gosalyn said, "I see what Launchpad means. Bushroot's done some bad things, yeah, but he's not insane. If you want to see insane, look at Quackerjack and Megavolt. Negaduck and Liquidator aren't crazy, just bad, and Bushroot is Lonely; Launchpad's right about that."

"I need coffee," Drake said. "I'm not awake enough for this debate."

Drake would never admit it, not at this point, but the conversation he'd had with Launchpad the night before kept creeping into his thoughts. The mental argument was still going on in his head, but he was trying to ignore it. He just couldn't accept the possibility that any of Saint Canard's Super Villains could have an ounce of goodness in them. Still, the half-formed thought wouldn't go away. "If Bushroot was on our side-"

Gosalyn was thinking hard, too, but she was more willing than Drake to accept the possibility. Guys like Negaduck and Taurus Bulba could never possibly be good, but she knew Bushroot was not even in their ball park. He was always more evil when he was with the Fearsome Five because he had them to egg him on. Alone, he was small potatoes as super villains go. Gosalyn winced at the vegetable pun she'd just mentally made and was glad no one could hear her thoughts. That was an embarrassment, even to someone who made as many puns as her dad did. Gosalyn was mentally able to finish the thought her dad couldn't and it was basically the same as Launchpad's. "If Bushroot was on our side, he could help us beat the other four!" Also like Launchpad, Gosalyn knew there was no convincing her dad yet and that they'd still have to wait and see if Bushroot really was better than most of his actions had been over the past year.

Negaduck's plan seemed simple enough the night before. The problem was how to implement it. He knew he couldn't do it alone, but who could he trust? Out of all the Fearsome Five, Liquidator was the only one who could pull it off. Even if Quackerjack and Megavolt were reliable enough, they weren't sane enough. They'd give themselves away somehow and it would be all over. Negaduck took Liquidator aside after they'd planned another attempt on the school for that night.

"We got a problem," Negaduck said.

"Inquiring minds want to know," Liquidator said, "what's up?"

"I have reason to believe Bushroot might be planning to betray us. I think the death of that tree last night softened his brain even more than it already was."

Liquidator didn't say anything, but a flashback of the night before went through his mind. He'd never seen Bushroot so angry.

"I want to make sure he doesn't switch sides. I followed him last night and heard him talking to a tree in Duckburg. He wants to become good." Negaduck sneered, then his face turned angry. "If he turns good, that'll be bad for the rest of us, and I don't want him messing up my plans for Darkwing and that little girl."

"Liquidator guesses, Negaduck has a master plan!"

"Yeah, and you're the only one who can help me. Bushroot thinks if he has a friend he won't have to be bad anymore. We're going to give him a friend."

Liquidator looked confused.

"We're going to make him think he has a friend, other than a tree, but the friend is going to report back to you and you're going to report back to me."

Liquidator listened as Negaduck outlined his plan. "He's so bad it's good!" he thought, smiling as Negaduck finished. "This might work."

Bushroot also had a plan. He was going to try to follow Herman's advice. He would have to go along with the Five for now, but as soon as he found out what Negaduck was planning for Gosalyn, he would start making plans of his own. He was going to wait until the last possible minute, then give the others a surprise they would never forget. He didn't know what would happen afterwards, but he knew he was going to save that little girl if it was the last thing he did. She was as innocent as poor Harvey had been.

Since the first battle with the Justice Ducks, Negaduck couldn't get into Shush anymore; their security measures were too stringent. But there was really no way, no matter how hard they tried to think of one, for them to keep Liquidator out. Negaduck had Liquidator spy regularly on Shush to find out what new things they were coming up with that might be useful to the Fearsome Five.

Shush had been working for months on trying to improve something called a Norma Ray. Negaduck didn't know how long they'd been working on it, but there had been a mention of Launchpad having been hit with it and temporarily acquiring psychic powers. There had been a problem, though; his head had physically grown as a side effect.

Shush's latest attempts had been more successful. The test subjects had psychic powers, but their psychic abilities were still out of control.

Negaduck had a use for that ray and Liquidator was inside the shush lab trying to get it. As far as they could tell, there were no alarms on the machine. "For a sister organization to the Duckburg Intelligence agency," Negaduck thought, "the place is full of dunderheads! They didn't even think to alarm the thing, and Fowl already got their hands on it once!"

Negaduck waited about five minutes, getting more and more impatient. What was taking Liquidator so long? Then Liquidator materialized beside him, holding the Norma Ray.

"Four out of five psychics agree," Liquidator said, "the Norma Ray is our key to dominating the city!"

Negaduck laughed.

"You can say that again! Not only will we keep Bushy from going soft, but we'll keep my do-gooder double out of our hair while we crush the city! No one can stop us now!"

He let out his trade mark evil laugh again, then said, "come on; let's get back to the hideout before Shush realizes the ray's gone.

"This ray isn't perfected yet," Negaduck said to Megavolt when he and the Liquidator got back to the hideout. "Can you fix it?"

"What's it supposed to do?"

Negaduck explained the purpose of the ray and the problem with control the test subjects were having. Megavolt took the ray apart, examined everything, then put it back together. Negaduck didn't know and didn't care what he did differently, as long as it worked.

"OK," Megavolt said, "time to test it."

"Good," Negaduck said. "let me have it."

He took the ray and pointed it at Megavolt.

"Hey!" Megavolt squeaked, then he was hit with the ray.

A blue and white light surrounded him and he disappeared briefly. When he reappeared he looked normal again. It was similar to the effect Darkwing's smoke bombs had when he made one of his entrances.

Negaduck looked around and realized Bushroot wasn't there and hadn't been since he and Liquidator had gotten back from Shush.

"Bushroot's at the park," Megavolt said before Negaduck could even open his mouth to ask the question.

"Good," Negaduck said. "He's not supposed to know all of what we're doing."

Then he did a double take.

"It worked!" he said triumphantly.

"How did you know he was going to ask you that, Megs?" Quackerjack asked.

Negaduck pointed the ray at himself, then sent a thought at Quackerjack, who suddenly stood on his head and spun, somehow managing to keep himself from falling over for a full ten seconds. If Launchpad had been there, he would have been reminded of Gyro Gearloose trying to think up an idea using his thinking helmet.

"The Norma Ray," Liquidator said in his TV announcer's voice, "developed by Shush and perfected by Megavolt of the Fearsome Five, is sure to give you more power than you ever imagined! This incredible machine is-"

"Shut up," Negaduck thought at him angrily. Liquidator shut up, putting both hands over his head as if he was trying to hold it together.

"Not so loud!" the thought came back weakly to Negaduck.

"One more test," Negaduck said to himself.

He had Liquidator drench Megavolt and Quackerjack and then told them with his mind to thank Liquidator for the bath. He made them think they'd been playing in the mud for hours.

"This is fun," Negaduck thought. "I have these guys under my complete control. I've always been the brains of this outfit, but now I can make these dunces do exactly what I want them to do in every detail with a single thought. None of them will mess up anymore and all our schemes will go exactly according to plan, Darkwing or no Darkwing! OK, enough fun for now. Time to get down to business."

He told Liquidator mentally to take the Norma Ray and go find Bushroot.

Heather Aubrey sat in the park under an elm tree, picking at her lunch. She had another twenty minutes before she had to get back to the Saint Canard Flower Shop, where she worked with her mother. She wasn't hungry and she didn't want to be here alone, but her mother had practically pushed her out the door on her lunch break, telling her some food and fresh air would do her good after the conversation she'd had on the phone that morning with her incarcerated husband.

"He's just being stubborn and possessive," her mother said. "He can't honestly think you're going to take him back after he gets out of jail, not after what he did! He should know I raised you better than that!"

Heather loved her mother and knew she was only trying to be supportive, but sometimes her methods were more stressful than helpful. Sometimes she made heather feel as tense as Max did.

The phone conversation that morning kept replaying in her head like a CD player stuck on repeat. It was like the controls were broken and Heather had no way to turn it off.

"I want this divorce, Max, and nothing you can say or do is going to make me change my mind!"

"I won't sign the papers, Heather. We have a son together, one that I've never even seen, and I'm going to change! I've changed already! Prison has had a positive effect on me. If you stay married to me I can prove it!"

"What kind of an example will it set for Marvin if I take you back? I don't want him growing up thinking it's OK to do whatever you want to do just because you want something! No way! He's going to grow up with better values than those!"

They'd gone in circles for ten minutes before Heather finally hung up on him. Her voice was rising and she was getting more and more upset. She didn't want to scare Marvin. He was barely a year old and he didn't need to see his mother upset.

"I won't give you and Marvin up without a fight, Heather," Max had said just before she hung up. "We're a family."

"You should have thought about that before you teamed up with those Beagle Boys to rob that rich duck!" Heather had said furiously, and slammed the phone down. Her stomach had been upset ever since and her mother wanted her to eat lunch? The whole situation was like something out of a bad soap opera. Heather was so upset that it didn't occur to her to wonder if there was any such thing as a good soap opera. All she knew at the moment was that for Marvin's sake, she was going to do anything she had to, as long as it was legal, to get this divorce, even if it meant fighting dirty.

Bushroot sat under a spruce tree, bouncing ideas off it about what to do about Gosalyn and the Fearsome Five. The tree wasn't helping much; it just kept telling him it didn't have enough information. The situation reminded him of a movie he'd seen once where the guys who had created a robot had lost it. They kept trying to communicate with it, but it just kept saying "malfunction, need input."

Liquidator tried to think back to Negaduck, but was too far out of range. He pointed the ray at himself, then tried again.

"You even think like an ad announcer!" Negaduck thought at him irritably. "OK, you found him, good. Now this is what I want you to do."

Liquidator smiled as he spotted Heather, about six trees away from Bushroot. She would be perfect.

Liquidator could read Bushroot's thoughts easily after hitting himself with the Norma ray. He'd seen that movie too, when he was Bud Flood. He liked Bushy's taste in movies.

"Focus!" Negaduck yelled angrily in Liquidator's head.

"I'm going to have a migraine before this is over," Liquidator thought, rubbing his head. He looked from Bushroot to Heather, read her thoughts, then planted the one Negaduck had told him to. Once he knew what she was thinking, it was easy to set the stage for his own thoughts to be planted in her head. He thought she'd probably never know the thoughts he planted were not her own.


	5. A Day of Preparation

As Heather threw her mostly uneaten lunch into the trash can beside the bench, she had a sudden mental image of her divorce case being dragged on for years. It played out in slow motion. Marvin got older and older and the situation just kept getting uglier. It was like a very badly written court drama. The sounds and images kept getting louder and more vivid until Heather couldn't see or hear anything else. Suddenly she became very dizzy and couldn't breathe. Tears ran down her face. The thing about this that scared her the most was that she had no idea where these images came from. She was upset before, but now she was terrified and having the first panic attack of her life.

Bushroot wasn't sure what made him look across the park, but when he did he saw a young female duck with short brown hair, brown feathers and blue eyes sitting on the bench with her head in her hands. He had a strong feeling something was wrong with her. He was barely aware of getting up and walking over to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked quietly.

She looked up.

"No," she panted, and Bushroot saw that she was crying. "I'm really scared! I can't breathe and I've never been so dizzy! I'm not sick, just totally stressed out!"

"Don't worry," he said uncomfortably. "It'll be OK."

He put his leafy hand on her shoulder and she looked at him more closely.

"Oh no," he thought. "Here it comes; she'll suddenly stop being dizzy and run away screaming, or she'll pass out."

But she surprised him.

"Hey!" she said. "You're a Lyceum Nycanthropus plant!"

"That's right!" Bushroot cried happily. "How did you know?"

"I work at the Saint Canard Flower Shop. I'm Heather Aubrey."

"I'm Reggie Bushroot. You're not afraid of me?"

"No, I like plants."

Bushroot wanted to ask her if she would like to be a plant, but something told him not to push things. He suddenly realized that had been his mistake with Rhoda. He would have to get to know Heather before suggesting such a drastic change.

As they talked, Heather's dizziness faded and her breathing slowed to normal. Bushroot told her how he became a plant and Heather told him about her problems with Max. The conversation turned to more general topics and they both realized they liked each other. Bushroot was ecstatic that he'd finally met someone who didn't run screaming about monsters. Heather was relieved to have someone just listen to her without trying to tell her what she should do or making comments that were meant to be supportive but were not. She was so wrapped up in her conversation with Reggie that she completely forgot about the time.

Liquidator smiled as he watched and listened to them becoming friends. All that had been needed was for Liquidator to plant those images in Heather's mind and plant the impulse in Bushroot's mind to look over at Heather and go try to help her. After that, all he had to do was give Bushy the thought that he shouldn't ask her to become a plant with him yet and remind him of Dendron's reaction. "Get to know her first," he whispered in Bushroot's mind. He didn't even have to tell Heather not to be afraid of Bushroot; her fear of those horrible images took care of that. Compared to them, seeing a half duck half plant was perfectly acceptable to Heather.

Things were going exactly according to plan. Even Negaduck was pleased; Liquidator could feel it. It was the first time he'd ever known Negs to be genuinely happy.

"Hey!" he thought at Negaduck, looking in the direction opposite Heather and Bushroot. "Darkwing and Launchpad are here! It looks like they're in the middle of a Quack-Fu lesson. Should I play with their minds?"

"No:" Negaduck's thought came back, "they know each other too well. If we tried to plant a thought in one of their minds that was out of character like we're doing with Bushroot and that woman the other would know something was wrong. I don't think we should play with their minds while they're together until we've had more practice. Maybe if we get one of them alone, but for now, come back. We got plans to make."

"Launchpad," Darkwing said dramatically, "you're ready."

"I'm ready for what, DW?" Launchpad asked, grinning.

"You're ready to learn my patented double flip web kick!"

"Really?"

"You proved yourself last night. You're a good student. Master Lee would be proud of both of us!"

Launchpad's grin widened. He wished Master Lee could see DW now. The student had become the teacher. "There's no way he'd call DW grub worm now," he thought, feeling as proud of both himself and DW as Darkwing looked. Neither of them noticed Bushroot and Heather on the bench, or Liquidator sneaking out of the park to go back to the hideout.

J Gander Hooter looked up when he heard a knock on his office door.

"Come in," he said absently. He'd barely made a dent in that day's paperwork and didn't really want an interruption, but he was used to days that didn't go according to plan.

"Director Hooter," Chief Agent Grizzlikof said, "there is problem in research lab."

He came into the room, closely followed by Dr. Sara Bellum. She looked frantic.

"The Norma Ray has been stolen!" she said.

"Again?" J Gander asked. Grizzlikof and Bellum nodded and Hooter gave a tired sigh. "Who did it this time? Was it Fowl again?"

"We are not knowing, Sir," Grizzlikof said in his thick Russian accent. "There are not being any signs of forced entry."

Shush spent hours looking for clues, or any kind of evidence, but couldn't find any. Finally, against Grizzlikof's pleading protests, J Gander decided it was time to send for Darkwing Duck. "If he can't solve this mystery," J Gander thought confidently, "no one can."

"I'm bored," Quackerjack whined. "When can we use that Norma ray thing to have some fun?"

"We can't do anything big until we practice," Negaduck said with exaggerated patience. "Besides, we need to find a way to keep Bushy from realizing what we're doing with his mind."

Negaduck had told Megavolt and Quackerjack about Bushroot and what Liquidator was doing at the park. He drilled it into their minds that something horrible would happen to both of them if either of them let it slip to Bushroot.

"Are you gonna zap him and Quacky, too?" Megavolt asked.

"Yeah, with five of us using psychic powers we can create five times the havoc!" Negaduck laughed maniacally.

"Oh my gosh!" Heather cried suddenly. "Look at the time! I should have been back at work an hour ago! My mom's probably worried sick; I'm never late!"

"OK," Bushroot said, disappointed. "Well, can I call you?"

"Sure, let me give you my phone number. I get off work at five."

"Great!" Bushroot said enthusiastically. He hadn't expected Heather to let him have her number. Even when he was a normal duck the girls didn't want anything to do with him. "I'll call you tonight!"

Elizabeth Fern stood by the phone, looking out the window of the flower shop and trying to decide who to call. She knew the police wouldn't do anything because Heather had only been missing for an hour and was over twelve years old. Unless the person was twelve years old or younger, the police wouldn't start looking for them until they'd been missing for twenty-four hours.

"It's that husband of hers," Mrs. Fern thought. "He's had someone kidnap her; I just know it!"

Just then, she saw Heather walking towards the shop with a huge smile on her face. Mrs. Fern threw open the door and ran out to meet her.

"Where have you been, young lady? I've been so worried! I thought Max had-"

"I'm sorry, Mom. I met someone in the park and we started talking; I completely lost track of time. His name is Reggie Bushroot. He's a Lyceum Nycanthropus plant."

"You talked to a plant for over an hour?" Mrs. Fern asked, starting to worry all over again. Maybe the stress of the past year had finally caused her poor baby to have some sort of nervous breakdown.

"Well, he's a mutant plant duck. He used to be a scientist and one of his experiments went wrong."

Mrs. Fern suddenly felt nervous. Something about this reminded her of something, but she couldn't place it. The name and the story sounded familiar somehow and she was afraid it was something that could hurt Heather. But Heather looked happier than she had since Max's arrest. Mrs. Fern decided to keep quiet for now, unless it became absolutely necessary to warn her against this Bushroot character. "Besides," she thought, "maybe I'm wrong. I'll wait until I meet him and then decide. It could just be that I've become overly protective since that man she married broke her heart and left her with a baby to raise without a father. Maybe this Reggie is just the person to make my Heather forget all about her problems. After all, he's got to be better for her than that hooligan Max Aubrey!"

Mrs. Fern just hoped he would be good for Heather and that he had a better class of friends than those despicable Beagle Boys.

"Hey guys," Bushroot said happily. "What's up? Did I miss anything?"

"Oh you bet you did," Quackerjack said eagerly. "You know how you can talk to plants with your mind? Well, now we can all do things with our minds! Once we get some practice, it's play time!"

"Huh?" Bushroot asked.

"Come here," Negaduck said. Bushroot thought his face looked odd. When he got closer, he realized why and almost backed away. Negaduck was smiling! Bushroot couldn't remember ever seeing Negaduck smile.

"Ok, Megavolt," Negaduck said suddenly. "Zap him!"

"Hey!" Bushroot cried. He was really scared now. Negaduck smiling couldn't mean anything good, and neither could the words "zap him," especially with Sparky doing the zapping.

Bushroot was suddenly surrounded by a blue and white light. He felt some sort of power surge through him, but it wasn't a bad feeling. Then the light disappeared, and except for this new power, he felt normal. Whatever they just did to him, he didn't think it had hurt him.

"What happened?" he thought.

"You've been given psychic powers," Quackerjack thought back at him, "just like the rest of us!"

"Oh, is that all?" Bushroot asked, then did a double take. "Hey! I can read your minds, and you can read mine! I used to only be able to do that with plants!"

"Try to set a fire, or freeze something, or levitate something," Megavolt suggested. "We can all do these things now!"

"With the Norma Ray," Liquidator said in his ad announcer's voice, "there'll be no more need for dangerous exposure!"

"Hey, that's right!" Negaduck said, excited. "We don't need to go back to the school now; we can get the information directly from the kid, or Darkwing, or Launchpad. All we have to do is read their minds! I'm glad I thought of that!"

Liquidator glared at him and he pretended not to notice. The rest of the five, being the cowards they were, congratulated Negaduck on his inspiration.

The five of them spent hours practicing with their new powers. Now they would be unstoppable. By the next morning, they would be ready to create the biggest crime spree in the history of Saint Canard, and the best part was that no one would be able to figure out who was committing the crimes, or even how they were being committed. "And after we clean out Saint Canard," Negaduck thought, "we can move on to Duckburg and rob Scrooge McDuck and Flintheart Glomgold! Then, who knows? We could eventually rule the world." The rest of the five read his thoughts and they all laughed.

As they ate dinner, they shared mentally their fantasies. Megavolt wanted to liberate countless light bulbs. Quackerjack wanted to brainwash everyone to buy his toys and put every other toy maker out of business. Liquidator wanted to sell only his bottled water. He wanted to buy out all the other bottled water companies and have them work for him. Bushroot just wanted everyone to like him and stop ruining plant life. Negaduck wanted to be feared and obeyed by everyone. He wanted his commands to be obeyed without question or opposition and he wanted to cause as much destruction as he could. "Now that we're psychic," he thought at the others, "the Fearsome Five will be more Fearsome than ever. No one is safe! Citizens of Saint Canard, beware!"

That night, at the Audubon Bay Bridge Tower, Launchpad and Darkwing were getting ready to go on patrol when the Flashquack flew threw the window and landed beside Darkwing. He picked it up, excited.

"It's a message from Shush! Somehow I doubt we're going to have a boring night, LP! We've finally got a case!"

He opened the message and read it carefully, then gasped dramatically.

"The Norma Ray has been stolen!"

"Oh no," Launchpad said nervously, "not again!" He hated to think of the trouble he'd had after being blasted with that thing. His growing head had been the least of his problems, he realized after it was all over. He'd had no control over his powers. Thinking had become dangerous.

"Yes, and J Gander wants us to get it back. We have to go to Shush first to collect the evidence and gather clues. Come on, Launchpad. Let's get deductive!"

"I don't understand it, Darkwing," J Gander said. "We've looked everywhere and haven't found a single clue. You're the Shedlock Jones of Saint Canard; you're the only one who can figure this out."

Darkwing clasped his hands together. Launchpad smiled, remembering that he'd done that when Launchpad had told him he was DW's biggest fan. That had been a little over a year ago. He was about to spend his second Christmas with DW and Gosalyn.

"Don't worry, J Gander," DW said confidently. "I, Darkwing Duck, will crack this case wide open."

Grizzlikof growled under his breath; only Launchpad was close enough to hear him.

Darkwing and Launchpad went into the research lab with J Gander and Grizzlikof. Dr. Bellum was sitting with her hands folded, staring at a computer screen, deep in thought. She looked up when J Gander called her name.

"Oh, good," Bellum said, relieved. "Darkwing, you've got to find the Norma Ray before something disastrous happens!"

"Was anything out of place when you discovered the ray missing, Dr. Bellum?" Darkwing asked.

"No, there was just a puddle of water someone had spilled on the-"

"Water? That's all; just water! You're sure?"

"Yes."

"The Liquidator!" Darkwing and Launchpad said together.

"Why are you not telling us this before, Dr. Bellum?" Grizzlikof asked angrily. "If you had," Launchpad heard him say under his breath, "we would not be having to call this costumed clown."

Launchpad felt a surge of annoyance. DW may not be perfect, but he was not a clown. "One day he's gonna prove it to yah, Griz," Launchpad thought fiercely, "and when he does you're gonna eat your words. You're gonna take back every nasty thing you ever said about him."

"You didn't ask," Bellum said innocently.

"It's just as well," J Gander said. "Darkwing is the only one who's ever had any luck beating the Liquidator, so we would have had to call him eventually." J Gander had been on Grizzlikof's other side. Darkwing was to Launchpad's left and J Gander and Griz were to his right.

"Has the ray been fixed yet?" Launchpad asked nervously. "I mean, does it work?"

"Well, not completely," Bellum said. "It doesn't make your head grow anymore-"

"Thank goodness!" Launchpad interjected, relieved.

"But the test subjects still have no control over their powers."

"Don't worry, LP," Darkwing said. "If Liquidator has it, the Fearsome Five are probably involved. I have a feeling this has to do with whatever they were doing at the school last night. They won't want either of us to have psychic powers."

"But how will you find them?" Grizzlikof sneered.

"Well, for now we'll just have to wait," Darkwing said, ignoring Grizzlikof's tone. "They're going to start using their new powers eventually. If I know them, things are going to start disappearing without a trace, just like the Norma Ray."

"But they can't control their powers," Launchpad said.

"Megavolt will fix it. He's the only one who can."

Bellum glared at him.

"I mean the only one of the Fearsome Five."

"Oh, well, that's all right then," bellum said, mollified.

"So that's your plan?" Grizzlikof asked. "Just wait and see?"

"They'll need time to practice using their powers, but Negaduck's too impatient to wait for long. I don't expect to have to wait long; maybe tomorrow."

"Yes," J Gander said thoughtfully. "Probably by tomorrow they'll be ready."

"Or at least Negaduck will think they're ready. Once things start disappearing, money, toys, light bulbs, with no sign of anyone who could have taken the items, we'll know it's them."

"But how's that gonna help us find them?" Launchpad asked, already knowing the answer but also knowing he was expected to ask.

"That's where my deductive powers come in," Darkwing said, softly but dramatically, raising an index finger. "I'll find the pattern, predict their next move, then go in for the kill!"

Grizzlikof smirked. J Gander and Launchpad smiled at each other. Bellum went back to her computer screen.

"Fear not, Dr. Bellum," Darkwing said with dramatic confidence, "Darkwing Duck is on the case. We'll have that ray back for you before Christmas. Mark my words. If I don't have it back in two weeks, I'll eat my own fedora!"

Launchpad grinned at the mental image of Darkwing munching his shredded fedora, trying to mask the taste by putting it inside a Hippo burger with the works, as if the hat were a new kind of lettuce. Grizzlikof smirked again, glaring at Darkwing. J Gander gave the bear a warning look.

"I'm sure you will," Darkwing, Hooter said. "Shush can always count on you.

Launchpad admired the way J Gander handled DW and Grizzlikof. He always seemed to know when Griz was going to start trouble and when DW needed an ego boost. "The ego boosts I can handle," he thought, smiling at J Gander again, "but Griz? I wouldn't even have him on the pay role if I was J Gander. He has no respect, and if he wasn't so focused on that Shush manual he could solve a lot of these cases without DW just like he wants. By the time he fills out all those forms, DW's got everything taken care of."

"Well, if I am not being needed, Sir," Grizzlikof said huffily to J Gander, "I'm going to be finishing my paperwork."

"Very good, Agent Grizzlikof."

"Yeah," Darkwing said under his breath. "Go finish your paperwork and leave the real action to the ones who can handle it. How did you ever get to be Shush's chief agent."

J Gander gave Darkwing the same look he'd given Grizzlikof a minute earlier. Launchpad was glad DW hadn't spoken loud enough for Griz to here as he stalked out of the office. You didn't need psychic powers to know the bear's reaction wouldn't have been pretty.

Heather smiled as she hung up the phone with Reggie. Somehow he'd seemed to know she needed to be cheered up. Max had called again during dinner and started the same argument. She was so tired of going around in circles with him. She just wanted this divorce over and done with. Reggie had called almost immediately after she'd slammed the phone down on Max again. They talked for hours. Marvin was already asleep. They'd made plans to meet for lunch in the park again the next day. Reggie had told her to bring Marvin this time. Heather couldn't wait. Reggie made her feel better than she had in a year. She had a feeling her friendship with Reggie was the start of a whole new life for all three of them.


	6. The Fun Begins

Bushroot smiled when he woke up the next morning. He had managed to use his new psychic powers to do something good for Heather. He had thought of her the night before, formed a very vivid image of her in his head, then reached out for her with his mind. He could sense that she was upset and heard a little of her argument with Max. He wished there was something he could do to make him stop harassing her.

He waited until she hung up, then immediately picked up the phone and called her. He was at a little used pay phone because the hideout didn't have a phone. He had gone into a convenience store and planted it in the clerk's head that he had gone in, not found what he wanted and left. When he came out, he had one of those calling cards you dialed a toll free number to access. He didn't have any money. They talked until she told him she had to go to bed so she could be rested for work, and to take care of Marvin, tomorrow. He could sense that she was feeling a lot better by then. When he checked after they disconnected, half the minutes on the card he'd stolen were gone.

He was still undecided on whether or not he should tell the others about Heather. What if they found a way to wreck this for him? He kept her shielded in his mind as much as he could; that was the first thing he'd practiced last night when they were learning to use their powers. He had no idea of the secret the others were keeping from him.

Wake up!" Negaduck called to them excitedly. "We're ready! Let's get breakfast and start telepathically terrorizing the pathetic population of this miserable metropolis!"

Bushroot mentally and vocally suppressed a groan. Sometimes Negaduck could be as corny as Darkwing.

A sudden image of Heather popped into his head and he smiled again. He could steal her something nice with his psychic power. She'd never have to know it was stolen. He didn't know that last thought was planted by Negaduck.

Bushroot had decided the night before that he would only use his powers for evil when he was with the Fearsome five. But he would also do something good as long as he could think of an evil cover story for the others. He would steal Heather a necklace or charm bracelet, for example, but tell the others he was going to hock it. He didn't realize it yet, but he'd already decided subconsciously to keep Heather a secret as long as possible. He wanted to keep her safe from the others, especially Negaduck. This instinct was his own, not one that was planted by one of the others.

When he wasn't with them, he was going to use his powers only to help people, even Darkwing, if he could. Darkwing wouldn't know, and even if he did, so what, as long as it didn't get Bushroot in trouble with Negaduck? It wasn't just a question of keeping Gosalyn from being hurt anymore. Bushroot wanted to be good because he was willing to do anything if it meant being worthy of Heather.

Drake and Launchpad ran to the spinning chairs when they heard the alarms from the tower. After their visit to Shush last night, they had skipped patrol, knowing they'd have their hands full today. Drake changed into his Darkwing costume as quickly as he could after turning off the alarms. They'd been going crazy because crimes were being committed all over the city. Darkwing's ears still rang from the deafening sounds of the alarms, which couldn't respond fast enough to the crimes being committed. As soon as one went off, another one followed. He had to deactivate them temporarily or he and Launchpad would both go deaf.

"They don't have to leave their hideout now that they have psychic powers, DW," Launchpad said, breaking the sudden silence. "How can we find out where they are and what they'll do next?"

Before Darkwing could answer, the Flashquack landed beside him. He picked it up, read the message, then called J Gander.

"Darkwing," J Gander said, relieved, "thank goodness! "There are unexplained disappearances from homes and businesses all over the city! The Fearsome Five have started their psychic rampage! Some of the witnesses have reported sudden blackouts where they don't remember anything. One minute an item was there, the next it was gone."

"I'm on it, J Gander!"

"There are fingerprints; it seems to be Negaduck. The others are apparently not doing the jobs physically. Does that tell you anything?"

"Yes, J Gander. Negaduck doesn't want to sit home and do things; he wants the physical thrill, the adrenalin rush he gets from stealing and destroying. He also likes to play mind games, so now he has the best of both worlds. The other four are content to laugh at the citizens for not knowing why something suddenly disappeared, especially if it happens right in front of their eyes. Negaduck's going to want to have as much fun as he can the normal way without being caught."

"But how do we find him, DW?" Launchpad asked when Darkwing disconnected with J Gander. "You said we needed to find a pattern, but the alarms can't keep up. Besides, what's to keep Negaduck from playing with our heads like he did with all the other witnesses?"

"We'll have to do some old-fashioned research to find the pattern, LP. I don't know about the others yet, but we'll be able to find Negaduck. But you're right; we do have to find a way to keep him from getting into our minds. I'm not sure Quack-fu meditation techniques will be enough. Maybe Shush will have something; let me call J Gander again."

Launchpad was surprised. DW hated to admit he needed help, even to Launchpad and Gosalyn. He was glad DW could admit he needed help now, though; the Fearsome Five had almost killed him during their first battle because Darkwing had insisted on fighting them alone.

"As a matter of fact, Darkwing," J Gander said, "we have exactly what you need. Dr. Bellum reminded me just this morning; she said you'd probably need it."

"We developed this when we started to work on the Norma Ray," Bellum said. "We have all the bugs worked out; we made sure of that before we started using the ray. This helmet shields the mind of the person who wears it from the psychic powers of someone who has been blasted by the Norma Ray. If you wear this, nothing the Fearsome Five can do will affect you; they won't even sense your minds."

She handed one helmet to Darkwing and another to Launchpad.

"We only have two of these," J Gander warned them, "so be careful."

"No problem, J Gander," Darkwing said confidently. "Careful is my middle name. Ouch!"

As he talked, he was walking towards the exit, looking back at J Gander and trying to put on the helmet at the same time. He walked into the wall because he wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to where he was going and bumped his beak. Launchpad put his helmet on before following DW, who was trying not to be noticed as he rubbed his bruised beak. Grizzlikof gave Darkwing's back a smug look that only Launchpad saw. Bellum and Hooter grinned at each other.

"Darkwing may have his faults and eccentricities," J Gander said to Grizzlikof and Bellum when Darkwing and Launchpad left, "but he's still one of the best things that ever happened to Shush.

Bellum nodded and Grizzlikof glared.

Back at the tower, Darkwing and Launchpad watched the news casts. Tom Lockjaw told the viewers about all the strange disappearances in Saint Canard and wondered when people would start disappearing. He seemed to think this was some kind of alien plot or government conspiracy. As he listened, Darkwing wondered absently if Tom had Gosalyn's taste in movies.

"Look there, DW!" Launchpad said excitedly.

"It's Negaduck! He's robbing that bank! This is live, too! Come on, Launchpad. Let's get dangerous!"

"But won't he be gone by the time we get there?" Launchpad asked as Darkwing drove the Ratcatcher in the direction of the bank.

"Possibly, but he may leave a clue as to where he's going next. Even if he doesn't, I know him well enough to know the places he's most likely to hit. He'll want weapons, as well as money. If we don't find him at a bank, we'll find him in a place where he can get guns or explosives,."

"Why would they want money, anyway? I mean, all they have to do now that they have psychic powers is steal what they want, so what's the purpose of robbing banks?"

"If Negaduck's got the money, the people who made it don't have it. He wants to destroy. What better way to destroy someone's life than to break them financially. They can't eat, they can't buy clothes or shoes, they can't pay their mortgages or car payments. Soon they have bill collectors after them left and right and their credit goes down the tubes. It's a form of psychological warfare. It's right up Negaduck's alley because it affects his victims physically, mentally and emotionally."

Launchpad suddenly wondered if there would even be a Fearsome Five without Negaduck. He was their leader. Without him, Launchpad thought the group would probably fall apart. It barely stayed together as it was.

Negaduck was not only the smartest of the Five, but the worst and most dangerous of them. The others had their own motives.

Bushroot's crimes almost always involved trying to force someone to be his friend or trying to create one out of a plant and having the experiment go totally wrong. Launchpad felt another pang of sympathy for Bushroot at this thought. Bushroot just wanted someone to care about him. His motive was to fulfill the most basic need, the need to be loved. The problem was that he'd been hurt and rejected so many times that it had twisted him emotionally into something worse than he'd become physically. The fact that he was now part plant didn't help matters any. His current physical appearance made him even more of an outcast now than he was before.

Liquidator wanted profit from his bottled water. He was hard to beat whether or not he was with the Five. There wasn't always a vat of quick drying cement nearby when you needed one.

Quackerjack wanted his toys to be the only ones on the market. His only super strength was his wackiness and he couldn't do much with that on his own. Darkwing never seemed to have too much trouble defeating him.

Megavolt just wanted to make sure no light bulbs were used. Launchpad would find that funny if Megavolt wasn't so dangerous at times. Liquidator and Megavolt usually didn't get along because their powers could hurt each other, like they had the other night. Megavolt seemed to get along with Quackerjack, most of the time, and Liquidator and Bushroot didn't seem to have too much trouble working together, but it was Negaduck who held them all together as a team.

The implications of a psychic Fearsome Five and what they could do suddenly struck Launchpad full force. They were more dangerous now than ever, even separately. They could make anyone think anything they wanted, and even mess with their memories. Any one of them, if motivated enough, could single handedly bring Saint Canard to its knees, and Negaduck would most likely be the one to do it if Launchpad and DW couldn't stop him. Launchpad mentally thanked Bellum and J Gander for their foresight in creating the shield helmets. He was determined to keep his handy until this was all over.

"You're quiet again," Darkwing said after a few minutes. "Did I say something wrong?"

In all the excitement of the ray being stolen and the Five suddenly having psychic powers, Darkwing had forgotten about Launchpad's theory about Bushroot being misunderstood rather than evil. It popped into his head now, but when Launchpad spoke Darkwing thought LP must have dismissed the theory, which in Darkwing's view, meant he'd come to his senses.

"No, I was just thinking how dangerous the Five are now."

"Yeah, but we're safe as long as we have the shield helmets."

"But no one else is safe; J Gander said there were only two."

"That's why we have to put a stop to this ASAP. I don't think it'll be too hard; once we get Negaduck, their leader, the Five will be helpless. None of them is smart or sane enough to take over as leader. Negaduck's lust for power will be their undoing, as well as his own."

Launchpad wished he could feel Darkwing's confidence this time. He thought about suggesting asking the Justice Ducks to stay on alert in case they needed backup, but almost immediately dismissed the idea. DW would never go for it, and Launchpad was afraid the suggestion would make DW determined to fight the Five on his own to prove he could. That almost got him killed once already and Launchpad wasn't willing to trust that DW's luck would hold out a second time.

"Look!" Darkwing said suddenly, pointing to the right. It was the minivan the Five had been driving the other night. "I can't believe Negaduck didn't think to ditch that thing; he must be slipping. Doesn't he know it's not smart to keep something you stole? It's probably been reported stolen by now."

"Yeah, but he's got psychic powers now. He can just make people think they never saw it."

"Good point. There's Negaduck; he's trying to get away! He's alone. This'll be a piece of cake."

Darkwing sped off after the minivan.

Negaduck looked in the rear view mirror. Something didn't feel right; something had caught his eye that shouldn't be there.

"Oh, no," he thought, "not already! How'd he track me down so fast? Wait a minute! What am I worried about? All I have to do is-" his thought broke off as he realized he could see the Ratcatcher and Darkwing and Launchpad inside it, but he couldn't sense either of their minds. What was going on here? There was only one way to find out.

Negaduck pulled over and got out of the minivan, waiting for Darkwing to catch up. He didn't want to stop, but he wanted to be surprised by some trick his do-gooder double had up his sleeve even less.

The Ratcatcher parked behind the minivan and Darkwing and Launchpad sprang out. They were apparently expecting Negaduck to bolt. He wished he could read their minds. Then he saw that they were both wearing a weird helmet. It wasn't a crash helmet; it looked like something a space explorer would wear to protect himself from the unfamiliar environment of an alien planet in a science fiction movie.

"Have you two decided to leave the planet?" Negaduck asked sarcastically.

"Huh?" Darkwing asked intelligently.

"The helmets," Launchpad said, surprising Negaduck. Like most people, Negaduck seriously underestimated Launchpad.

"Oh, these," Darkwing said innocently. "You made a mistake, Negaduck." His cocky tone made Negaduck want to break every bone in his body. "You forgot to find out if Shush had a counter to the Norma Ray. These helmets protect us from anyone who has been blasted. You and I are still on even ground."

Negaduck sent a thought back to the Liquidator, summing up the situation, scolding him for not making sure there was nothing that could be used against them and giving him images of what he was going to do to him when he got back to the hideout. He could sense Licky's surprise and fear and was glad of it.

"Yeah?" Negaduck asked Darkwing. "Well, you won't have them for long."

He lunged for them, but they both grabbed him and immobilized him. As Launchpad held him, Darkwing bound his hands and feet with a strong rope he'd pulled out from somewhere in his cape.

"Hey, let me go!"

"Yeah, right," Darkwing said sarcastically. "Come on, Negaduck. You're going to jail."

"We'll see about that," Negaduck said furiously.

"Wait, DW," Launchpad said thoughtfully. "We can't take him to jail."

"What are you talking about?" Darkwing squeaked. "He's been terrorizing the city for hours!"

"Yeah, but we're the only ones protected from his mind control. He can just make the cops think he's innocent, or-" he broke off, not wanting to give Negaduck any ideas.

"Or what?" Darkwing asked.

"Better tell you later. If I tell yah in front of him he'll do it."

"Good thinking, LP. The problem is what to do with him now."

"Maybe you could take him into the police station with my helmet and give it to the cop. Then you can tell him Negaduck's the robber and-"

"No, too risky. There's no telling what he would make you do while you weren't wearing the helmet."

Negaduck suddenly saw his opportunity for escape. There was a young couple walking by. He planted the thought in their heads that he was an old man and Launchpad and Darkwing were trying to kidnap him.

"Hey!" the man yelled loudly. "Let him go! He's just an old man! What's wrong with you guys!"

Darkwing and Launchpad looked over at him, confused.

"Are you talking to us?" Darkwing asked.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you; now let that poor old guy go!"

"What?" Darkwing squeaked. "Poor old guy? Are you insane? He's Negaduck! He's-"

The man rushed him. Negaduck controlled the stranger's moves to match the way he would fight Darkwing. The woman, also under Negaduck's control, rushed at Launchpad.

"Uh-oh!" Launchpad thought. "What do I do now? I can't hurt a woman! Besides, she's not herself; Negaduck's making her attack me."

Then his Quack-Fu training took over. He used the same move he'd first used on the Fearsome Five the other night, after the first time DW fell through the trap door of the boiler room. As with the Five, this temporarily disabled her without hurting her.

"Stay there," Launchpad said to the fallen woman. "I don't want to hurt you. That's Negaduck, not some helpless old man. Negaduck's one of the city's super villains. He's got psychic powers now; I can't tell you how, but he's controlling your minds. He wants you guys to help him escape."

The woman looked up at him in confusion.

Launchpad looked over at the fight between Darkwing and the stranger, just in time to see the stranger knock DW unconscious. Little birds flew around DW's head. Launchpad ran to help him.

"OK," Negaduck thought at the couple, "he's distracted. Help me get out of these ropes. They did and Negaduck sped off in the minivan, making the couple go in the direction they'd been heading and wiping their memories. They wouldn't remember seeing Negaduck, or Launchpad and Darkwing.

Launchpad had trouble reviving Darkwing, so he had to take him to the hospital. He was worried that DW could have a concussion. The helmets protected their minds, but Launchpad had no idea how good it would be at protecting their bodies.

DW regained consciousness on the way to the hospital and was surprised to find himself in the side car of the Ratcatcher.

"What happened?" Darkwing groaned, rubbing his chin with one hand. His head ached under the helmet, but he didn't dare take it off in case Negaduck was watching for his mind to suddenly become readable.

"That guy knocked you out and I couldn't wake yah up," Launchpad said, relieved. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"I don't need a-"

"You could have a concussion," Launchpad said firmly. "Better safe than sorry."

"What about Negaduck?" Darkwing asked, resigning himself to the fact that he wasn't going to win this one, especially since Launchpad was driving. Darkwing knew better than to try to take control of the wheel from any driver, no matter how badly he wanted to go after Negaduck.

"He got away; that couple helped him while I was trying to help you."

"As you would say," Darkwing said with a smile, "no problemo!"

"Huh?" Launchpad asked, surprised. He was sure DW would be angry that Negaduck had escaped.

"When we tied him up I put a homing device on him. It's so small he won't know it's there. I attached it to his hat. It's the same color, so no one would notice it unless they were looking for it. He's gonna lead us straight to his hideout. Then we can pick the Fearsome Five up all at once."

It wasn't that simple, Darkwing realize quickly after they left the hospital. He'd been told to take it easy and Launchpad was told to bring him back if Darkwing had any dizziness or blurred vision. The doctor seemed to know Darkwing wouldn't come back on his own and Darkwing knew LP knew him well enough to know if something was wrong. He would get Darkwing to the hospital if needed whether DW wanted to go or not. The doctor would have preferred it if Darkwing had gone home and got some rest for at least a day, but Darkwing flatly refused and Launchpad knew him well enough to know it would do no good to argue. It was that "end of discussion" face again.

Negaduck and the others were causing a city wide panic. There was traffic everywhere. People were trying to get their money out of the banks, going to the police station to report stolen property and trying to get home where they thought they'd be safe. The homing device told Darkwing where Negaduck was going, but there was no way to get to him. As much as it galled him, he would have to go back to the tower and wait for the roads to clear of traffic.

Bushroot was beginning to feel nervous. Heather was late and she said she was never late. What if she'd decided she didn't want to see him anymore? He reached for her with his mind and sensed annoyance. She was caught in traffic. Bushroot realized the traffic was caused by the people's futile attempts to try to protect their property, or get their stolen property back. He expanded his mental influence and made a few cars move out of her way, clearing a path for her to get to the park. He saw in her mind that she was looking forward to seeing him and introducing him to Marvin. This made Bushroot happier than he could ever remember being.

Darkwing saw the cars move out of the way and saw one other car take the path left open, but was annoyed to see that it wasn't open in the direction he needed. Coincidentally, the hideout was in the opposite direction of the park. No help there. He sighed. He wasn't going to get to the Fearsome Five's hideout today. He decided to go back home and wait for Gosalyn to get home from school. He would try later tonight when he and Launchpad went on patrol.


	7. Mind Games and Life Lessons

Heather stared at the box Reggie had just handed her. She'd only known him for a day and he was already giving her jewelry. But something made her take it, open it and accept the solid gold locket with no argument. It was beautiful. She would keep a picture of Marvin in one side of it. She didn't know what she'd put in the other side, but in the back of her mind, she was thinking that if she and Reggie got romantically involved she would keep his picture opposite Marvin's.

Bushroot heard her thoughts and knew that he was unconsciously planting them. He was projecting his desires onto her. He tried to shield his mind. He wanted her to like him for him, not because he used his powers on her.

Gosalyn wasn't used to walking home from school alone. Honker usually walked with her, but Mrs. Muddlefoot had kept him home today. He was running a slight fever and had a sore throat.

As she came out of the gate to the school yard, she saw all the traffic. There didn't seem to be any evidence of an accident. What was going on? A lot of the traffic seemed to be heading for the banks or the police station. Dad and Launchpad had skipped patrol the night before. Drake wouldn't give her all the details. All she knew was that it had to do with Shush and the Fearsome Five. Gosalyn wondered if all this traffic had something to do with that.

She stopped and blinked. One second she was leaving the gate to the school, the next she was a block away. She didn't remember anything between stepping through the gate and now. This had never happened to her before. Why would she black out like that? It worried her because it felt so strange. Should she tell her dad? Maybe not; he'd probably just worry. She would wait and see if it happened again. If it did, she would definitely tell him. She didn't know it yet, but her blackout was caused by Negaduck probing her mind and then wiping her memory so she wouldn't know what he was doing. He'd finally gotten the information he'd been trying to get at the school the other night.

"Very interesting," Negaduck thought at the others on the way back to the hideout. "Gosalyn is Darkwing's daughter. We can definitely use her to get to him. I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this mission."

"What are you gonna do?" Bushroot asked. Negaduck could sense that he was worried. He was still soft; he still didn't want that little girl being hurt. That was OK. He knew Bushy couldn't' change over night. That would look too suspicious. Negaduck wasn't worried. By Christmas, Bushy was going to be a full team player and there would be no turning back.

"Well," Negaduck thought back at him, projecting to the others, as well, "we can't invade Darkwing or Launchpad's minds because of those helmets, but we can play with her. We'll get her to help Quackerjack."

"Help me?" Quackerjack thought back at him. He was excited that he was going to have a playmate.

"Why not? It's perfect! She'll go into a toy store and steal some toys for you. We'll make the clerk catch her. Darkwing will be too busy trying to save his little girl from being sent to some juvenile detention center for shop lifting to give us a second thought. With him out of the way, we can do whatever we want. Saint Canard will be ours for the taking."

"With any luck," Drake was saying when Gosalyn opened the front door, "we can have this wrapped up tonight. All we need is a clear path to wherever the homing device leads us to Negaduck and the rest is downhill. Hi, Gos."

"Hi. Does this have to do with whatever Shush wants you to do with the Fearsome Five? Hi, Launchpad. What the heck are you guys wearing?"

She had just noticed the shield helmets.

"Hey, Kiddo. These have to do with the Five, too."

"They're shield helmets," Drake explained. "They protect us from the Fearsome Five's new psychic powers. They stole the Norma Ray yesterday and they're using their new powers to terrorize the city."

Gosalyn suddenly felt afraid when Drake mentioned some of the Five's victims having mental blackouts. That decided her; she had to tell her dad what had happened on the way home from school.

"We need another one of these helmets for Gos," Launchpad said when she finished telling them about her blackout.

"Yeah, but J Gander said they didn't have another one."

"Gyro!" Launchpad said suddenly, as if he thought he should have thought of it before.

"Your inventor friend from Duckburg?" Drake asked. "What about him?"

"He works for the DIA! That's a sister organization to Shush, so he's gotta know about these helmets! We can ask him to copy one of ours."

"But one of us would have to take his helmet off and would have no protection from the Five."

"But the Five won't be in Duckburg," Gosalyn pointed out. "We could go there and they'd never know. They can't be able to reach Duckburg with their minds this soon, can they? I mean, it takes time to learn how to use any new power, right?"

"Right," Drake said decisively. "Launchpad, you take Gosalyn to Duckburg and find your friend, Gyro. Until her mind is protected, she's safer away from Saint Canard. I'll go on patrol tonight and-"

"No you won't!" Launchpad and Gosalyn said together.

"You're not going up against the Fearsome five alone again!" Gosalyn said firmly.

"No, I'll contact the Justice Ducks before-"

"The Justice Ducks won't have shield helmets until we get back from Duckburg!" Gosalyn said, frustrated. "You can't do anything until we get back. Don't you dare try to face those guys on your own again!"

"She's right, DW. Remember what happened the first time they teamed up and yah drove the Justice Ducks away."

"You even drove us away that time, Dad; you can't beat them yourself!"

"All right," Drake said, feeling a mixture of frustration and affection for both of them. He knew they were right and that they loved him, but it frustrated him that he had to wait for them, and for someone he'd never even met, to act before he did. The affection won over the frustration. "I'll wait for you to come back. I promise not to do anything until then; I won't even leave the house, no matter what they do."

Gosalyn secretly checked to see if he had his fingers crossed. Satisfied that they weren't, she followed Launchpad to the spinning chairs.

Drake waited until he was sure they were gone, then went up to the tower himself. He would change into his costume and wait for Launchpad and Gosalyn up there. He decided to speed up things by contacting the Justice Ducks and alerting them of the situation. He told them for their own safety to wait until he contacted them again and explained that LP had gone to get protection for them from the psychic Fearsome Five. He even managed to stay civil to Gizmoduck and reason with him calmly. Gizmoduck wanted to come charging into Saint Canard and take control of the situation. Without losing his temper, Darkwing managed to convince him to stay in Duckburg by telling him that one more gadget would make him even more powerful. Gizmoduck was the last Justice Duck he called. After disconnecting with him, Darkwing had nothing else to do but sit back, watch the news casts and wait for Gos and Launchpad.

As he waited, he worried. What did the Five want from Gosalyn? Why had they made her black out? Had they made her steal something? Darkwing didn't think so; there hadn't been enough time.

What had they been doing at the school the other night? Did that have something to do with why Gos didn't remember anything about those few seconds?

"It had to be information they wanted," Darkwing thought. There was no time during Gosalyn's mental blackout for them to get anything else from her."

The question was, what information? It couldn't be Darkwing's real identity, although they could have gotten that out of her head and Negaduck probably knew it. If it was something general about the school, why would they pick Gosalyn to get it, and why would they need it in the first place.

Had they picked a child at random? Darkwing didn't think so. If they had, Negaduck would have pounced on anything he could get about Darkwing once he realized who she was.

Darkwing instinctively knew it was definitely not random; Negaduck had wanted whatever information he'd gotten out of Gosalyn alone. No other person could give him what he wanted, except Darkwing and Launchpad, and maybe Honker, and Darkwing didn't think Negaduck counted Honker.

Gosalyn was with Darkwing and Launchpad a lot more frequently than Honker was. Besides, Honker was home sick. Fever clouded the mind, so Negaduck would have had trouble getting what he needed from him today, even if he had been the target of Negaduck's mental probing.

Why had they gone to the school at all, then? That was before they had developed psychic powers, but even then, if they wanted information about Darkwing, why go to the school to get it? There was a piece missing to this puzzle and Darkwing intended to find it.

"Uh-oh," Gosalyn said during the flight to Duckburg. "I just thought of something. How are we gonna explain me to Gyro? I mean, he doesn't know Dad's Darkwing, so-"

"I've thought about that. We can let him think two of the helmets are for you and your dad."

"But what if he asks why Dad isn't with us?"

"We'll say he's at your parent/teacher conference."

"That's a good idea," she thought, "and he and Dad didn't have time to talk about it before we left. He usually asks Dad stuff like that and compliments Dad when he comes up with the answer."

Gosalyn felt suddenly guilty. She suspected sometimes that she and her dad underestimated Launchpad and now she was sure of it. She was beginning to think she knew why, too. Darkwing's ego was bigger than the rest of him. How would he react if he knew Launchpad had figured out something before he did? She could picture him feeling jealous and trying to downplay Launchpad's role.

"Launchpad knows it, too," she thought, "so he downplays his own role so Dad can get the credit. He wants to help Dad catch the bad guys and doesn't care about the headlines."

She felt a pang of annoyance at her dad. She would never tell Darkwing that he wasn't a real hero; he was, but Launchpad had the right idea. His lack of ulterior motive made him a hero in his own right. Dad craved recognition and publicity. He wanted to help, too, but why did he have to get all the glory and fame? She thought that was kind of selfish. After all, Launchpad was always beside him, willing to do anything he could to help Darkwing earn the popularity he was so desperate for. He was so much more than just a sidekick. She wondered if Darkwing knew how much more. She didn't think he appreciated Launchpad enough, and in that respect, she was as guilty as Darkwing. Neither of them had ever given him enough credit. Darkwing could pretend he was dumb because that was his way of keeping himself above his sidekick.

"Well, I'm not gonna pretend Launchpad isn't as smart as he is. That's not fair to him and sometimes it's downright mean."

She remembered some of the wisecracks she herself had made about Launchpad's intelligence. He wouldn't remember at least one of them because it happened in a future that had been changed, so it actually never happened. She blinked, then decided not to try to make sense out of that thought; it would only give her a headache.

She felt bad about some of the tricks she'd played on him, too, then wondered why he'd let her do it. He had to have known she was tricking him.

A thought struck her and she smiled. At least one time, he had gotten back at her. She was positive. She had tricked him, or so she'd thought, into doing her homework for her by pretending to be able to speak Swahili. She was sure now that he knew she couldn't, but he'd played along, acting hurt that she'd tricked him. Then he started to ask how to spell something, then acted surprised when Drake caught them.

"Was he really surprised?" she wondered now. She doubted it, and she didn't think he was pretending to be hurt either. It had been a mean thing to do, not only because she had lied to get her way, but because she was supposed to be his friend and she'd insulted his intelligence. She had thought he was dumb, and the fact that he really wasn't somehow made what she'd done even worse. He was her friend. Friends shouldn't take advantage of each other. She knew he would never do that to her.

She was going to try to make up for it. She was going to show him that she knew his secret, not to use it against him to get him to do something she wanted, but to show him the respect she now knew he deserved. She decided to try never to underestimate anyone again, and to respect everyone the way she wanted to be respected, especially the people she loved. Gosalyn had learned a lot about true friendship and respect in the space of a few seconds.

"No problem," Gyro said when Launchpad explained the situation. I made these helmets. In fact, all I have to do is put this one into my cloning machine and I can make as many as you want in a matter of minutes."

"Cloning machine?" Launchpad asked nervously. He'd been told what had happened the last time Gyro had made something that made duplicates of things.

"Don't worry; I've worked all the bugs out of this one and it won't clone anything living. Now let me have that helmet and I'll put it in there. How many will you need?"

"Well, we'll need at least six."

Launchpad thought that would be enough; one for Gos, one for each of the Justice Ducks, and one for Drake, or so Gyro would think. The sixth could actually be used to protect Honker's mind. He was very smart and the last thing they needed was for the Five to use his mind as a psychic library. He didn't know how they would explain the helmet to Herb and Binky, but they would cross that bridge when they came to it.

"Maybe we better take a few spares back just in case," Gosalyn said.

"Good idea," Launchpad said. "Can yah do that, Gyro?"

"I'll give you twelve; that way you'll each have a spare. Once this is over and you've beaten the Fearsome five, just give all the spare helmets to Shush when you give back the originals. I'm sure they'll make better use of them than I will."

Negaduck was growing increasingly frustrated. How could he play with her mind if it was fading? Why was it fading? His mood darkened every minute, then became pitch black when her mind disappeared completely. Darkwing must have found a way to protect her. To vent some of his anger, he used his mind power to break every window in the condemned apartment building they were using as their hideout.

Darkwing was waiting at the tower when Gos and Launchpad got back with the helmets. To his surprise, Gizmoduck was with them.

"Hey," Gosalyn said angrily. "I thought you said you wouldn't leave the house!"

"Well, technically, I didn't," Darkwing said reasonably. "I used one of the chairs to get up here.

"He's got a point, Gos," Launchpad said calmly. "We got five helmets and a few spares, DW. Gyro said to give them all to Shush when it's all over. We figured since Gizmoduck was gonna come here anyway, we'd pick him up."

"Hi, Wingy," Giz said cheerfully. Darkwing gritted his teeth. He hated when Gizmoduck called him that.

"Hello, Giz. I told the others we'd need them, but to wait for you two to get back. I'll call them again and tell them it's safe to come."

"Maybe we should go to them," Launchpad suggested. "That way none of the Five can get into their minds and find out where the hideout is."

"Good idea, Gosalyn said approvingly.

"Yeah," Darkwing said sheepishly, "I was just gonna suggest that."

Gosalyn rolled her eyes and Launchpad pretended not to hear him.

They rounded up the others and went back to the tower to develop a battle plan. Darkwing hated to admit it, but he had no idea how they could beat the psychic Fearsome Five. They could protect their own minds, so their powers would have no affect on the Justice Ducks, but Darkwing didn't have the slightest idea how to protect the rest of the city.

"I could play Put out the Bushroot," Stegmutt suggested hopefully.

"You may need to do that," Darkwing said, "but that won't stop him for long and it won't affect the others."

"We have spare helmets," Launchpad said. "Some of us could capture them while the others go give some of the cops the helmets. The protected cops can't be controlled by the Five, so they can't be made to release them."

"Yeah, but what about the other cops, the ones we can't protect?" Neptunia asked.

"I could freeze them with a spell," Morgana said.

"But how do we capture them?" Stegmutt asked.

"Some of us will have to be with the police," Gizmoduck said," so we'll be divided. It might not be a good idea to face them all at once if we're not all together."

"We also need to get the Norma Ray back," Darkwing reminded them.

"My caped colleague is correct," Gizmoduck said dramatically, "Shush must have their weapon returned to them."

"We still have to find their hideout, then, don't we, DW?"

"Not necessarily, Launchpad, because the Five will be looking for us by now. Negaduck's sure to notice that Gosalyn's mind has completely disappeared from his psychic radar."

"Dad," Gosalyn said, suddenly worried, "what if he got our location out of my head before?"

"It's a chance we'll have to take. For that matter, he might even know my true identity."

Launchpad and Gosalyn exchanged alarmed looks. Neither of them had thought of that.

"We can't worry about that now," Darkwing continued. "I have an idea of how to protect us, but I can't do it without the Norma Ray."

"But how do we find them if we don't know where they're hiding, Dark?" Morgana asked

"We divide and conquer. The ones who go to the police will stay protected. The rest of us will separate in different directions and temporarily remove our helmets, just long enough for them to get a fix on where we are. We tease them mentally until they find us, then we strike individually. If everything goes well, we'll have the city safe again before sunrise."


	8. Engaging the Enemy

"He's still asleep from the fever," Gosalyn said when she hung up the phone after calling Honker's house to ask if she could come over for a few minutes. She had wanted to give Honker a shield helmet.

"That's just as well," Darkwing said. "His mind is safer that way right now. For his sake, I hope he stays asleep until this is over. You go with Launchpad to the police station. Find some of the cops who know me and believe I'm not just a nut. They're more likely to cooperate. The rest of us are going to go confront the Fearsome Five."

"But how will we find you, DW? You may not be able to answer if we use the communicators."

"You have a good point, LP," Darkwing said thoughtfully. He thought for a few seconds, then said, "I've got more of those homing devices. Each of the Justice Ducks will wear one so you can track us. If you get into trouble, switch your tracker to send and ours will automatically be set to receive so we'll know where to find you and send help."

"But they'll be with the police," Morgana said. "How could they get into trouble with them?"

"These are Saint Canard policemen," Darkwing said. "They're not all bad, but some of them are completely brainless. Besides, they might run into one or two members of the Five before we do and may not have the chance to even get to the cops, or the cops' minds might not be protected before the Five acts. We need to plan for every contingency."

The Justice Ducks split up in different directions. Darkwing sent Stegmutt to the park, knowing Bushroot would eventually turn up there. If he thought Stegmutt was going to destroy some of the plant life, Bushroot would come to its rescue. All Stegmutt had to do was project the thought of destruction when he took his helmet off. Darkwing just hoped he and the others would feel it if and when one of the members of the Fearsome Five tried to get into their minds. The others would be harder to find, so the Justice Ducks picked places they were sure to find the Five at some point. Gizmoduck went to the power plant to try to lure Megavolt to him. Neptunia went to the Audubon Bay to try to catch the Liquidator. Quackerjack would definitely turn up at the toy factory, so Morgana was going there to deal with him. Negaduck's location was no problem; Darkwing was tracking him with the homing device. They were all feeling confident that Darkwing was right about having Saint Canard safe by sunrise.

"There's officer Shepherd," Gosalyn said at the police station. She pointed to the cop who had helped Launchpad dig Darkwing out of the rubble after the first battle with Taurus Bulba. "He and Officer Calico will help us. Do you think they'll be enough?"

"Maybe," Launchpad said thoughtfully. "I don't see anyone else here who respects DW. We can't tell if any of these others will believe us and we don't have time to convince them, not if we want to get the ray back and stop the Five by sunrise. I think they'll have to do."

Charlie Shepherd and Angora Calico had been the first cops on the scene after Canard Tower had exploded. Calico had taken Gosalyn back to the orphanage and Shepherd had tried to get Launchpad to leave, then helped him look for DW when he realized that wasn't going to happen. Shepherd had been sure Darkwing and Bulba were dead and was wrong on both counts. He had called the ambulance to take Darkwing to the hospital, but hadn't known Bulba was alive until Darkwing had told him later, after his second battle with the now mechanical steer.

Launchpad wished they knew for sure whether Bulba was dead this time. He would feel better if he knew they would never have to worry about him trying to kill DW and Gosalyn again.

Charlie and Angora had become friends with DW and Launchpad since then. They had even come to DW for help on some of the more puzzling cases. If anyone would believe Launchpad and Gosalyn about a psychic Fearsome Five, Charlie and Angora would.

Negaduck followed Bushroot to the park to meet Heather that night. They were going to meet there and he was going to teach her about some of the plant life that was unfamiliar to her, or that she wanted to know more about. Their good moods and sweet conversation made Negaduck want to blow something up. That feeling wasn't helped any by his fury over losing Gosalyn's mind. That was one plan he was going to have to scratch, unless he could find her and force her to take the helmet off. He would worry about that tomorrow. For now, he was running out of time. He had to harden Bushroot by finding a way to deep six his relationship with Heather. Negaduck wanted to find the most painful and affective way possible. He needed to make sure Bushy was on their side completely, and fast.

He had been monitoring the Justice Ducks' minds, not interfering, just keeping a mental eye on them. When their minds disappeared, he knew his hand was going to be forced sooner than he'd thought. He'd been wrong about Darkwing wanting to take care of this himself. Apparently, Darkwing had learned from his mistake last time and asked for help. Negaduck supposed even his dimwitted double could learn a lesson about fire if he was badly burned enough.

Negaduck smiled when he looked towards the entrance to the park. Stegmutt was here, and he was walking towards where Bushroot and Heather were sitting. Maybe Negaduck wouldn't have to do anything. Maybe Stegmutt was going to harden Bushy for him. Negaduck would let events play out on their own for a few minutes and see where things went. He was almost hoping Stegmutt wouldn't be completely successful. Negaduck needed to have some fun, and he would love to do it with this woman's mind, and especially with Bushroot's. Negaduck moved closer to hear what was happening. He thought this was going to be very interesting.

"This one has very strong healing properties," Bushroot was saying.

He was glad to have a captive audience. He had never had anyone want to listen to him before. He had learned quickly to look for signs that someone was just listening to be polite, and everyone had, until Heather. Everyone else thought he was a nerd before he mutated, then everyone was too afraid of him to stick around to hear what he had to say. Heather was the first person to ever look at the person inside Bushroot, not the nerd, or the mutation, but the entire being.

"But what would she think of you if she knew about the villain you became after your mutation?" a voice asked nastily in the back of his mind.

It was Negaduck's voice, but it was so subtle that Bushroot didn't know it was him, and he especially didn't know how close Negaduck was to them. Negaduck had become bored and decided to help things along a bit after all. He didn't actually plant the thought in Bushroot's mind; he just brought it out from its hiding place.

Negaduck felt Bushroot force the thought away and let him, knowing he could always bring it out again if he wanted. Stegmutt was getting closer. Negaduck decided to gamble on the dinosaur's innocent nature to turn Bushroot's budding friendship/romance into a huge pile of mulch.

Morgana smiled as she saw Quackerjack coming towards the toy factory. She'd been taking her helmet off, letting him get a fix on her, then putting it back on, teasing him for an hour. She could sense his feelings. He was angry, excited and amused. He liked this game, even if it did make him mad that she was teasing him. He thought this would be a challenge.

As he lured Megavolt to the power plant with thoughts of imprisoned and murdered light bulbs, Gizmoduck was more worried then he would have ever let on to Darkwing. It was possible that Negaduck had figured out Darkwing's true identity, something not even every member of the Justice Ducks knew, except for Launchpad, Morgana and Gosalyn. Gizmoduck hadn't known either, until tonight, when Gosalyn had slipped up and called him Dad.

Darkwing had nothing to worry about in his case, though. Gizmoduck knew how important it was to keep a super hero's true identity a secret. Any enemy could use it against him. If certain people knew Gizmoduck was really Fenton Crackshell, for example, his mother and girlfriend could be put in serious danger.

The thing that was worrying him now was that by taking off the helmet and teasing Megavolt, the electrified rat could possibly figure out who he really was and the Five could use his family to get to him. If the Five weren't psychic now, it wouldn't be a problem. From what Darkwing had told the Justice Ducks, Megavolt couldn't even remember his own true identity, let alone someone else's. But with all of them psychic, all Megavolt had to do was project the thought to one of the others and Gizmoduck's and Darkwing's covers would be blown sky high. He hoped, for the sake of both his and Darkwing's loved ones, that this would be over soon and the Five would be back to what passed for normal for them before any serious damage could be done.

Neptunia saw Liquidator coming closer and quickly put her helmet back on. She didn't want to engage him too soon. She needed more time to think. She wanted to make sure he didn't have the Norma Ray before she fought him. Gizmoduck was right; Shush needed the ray back. In the wrong hands, which it was, it could be dangerous. If she fought the Liquidator and the ray was lost, anyone could find it and use it for the wrong purpose.

"So that's what's been happening," Angora said. "A psychic Fearsome Five! Scary!"

"Tell me about it," Launchpad said.

"Will you help us?" Gosalyn asked.

"You bet," Charlie said. "No way we're gonna let those freaks get away with robbing the city blind and making fools outa the Saint Canard Police Department!"

When Charlie got angry, his New York accent became more pronounced.

Gosalyn's first thought was along the lines of Darkwing's comment about brainless cops in Saint Canard, but then she remembered how badly she had underestimated Launchpad and that connected with her lesson about justice and the benefit of a doubt from when she had gone into the future and saw Dark Warrior's Saint Canard. Charlie and Angora were two of the handful of cops Darkwing respected, and who respected him, but even they had their moments of incompetence. But Gosalyn was going to give them the respect she had failed to give Launchpad.

"OK, so what's our first move?" she asked.

"Did Darkwing give you orders beyond finding us?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah," Launchpad said. but the problem is there aren't enough of us."

"Yes, there are," Gosalyn said. She had her tracker out. "Look."

Launchpad pulled out his tracker. Darkwing and Stegmutt were both in the park.

"Negaduck and Bushroot must be together," he said. "We were supposed to find the Justice Ducks after we found you, and we were supposed to call them with these if we got into trouble."

"Well," Angora said, "there are four of us, and I think Darkwing would want Gosalyn out of danger."

"No way I'm being left out of this," Gosalyn said angrily.

"Calm down, Gos," Launchpad said. "You'll stay far enough away from the battle that you won't get hurt, but close enough that yah can use your arrows. You know that's what DW would have yah do."

Gosalyn relaxed.

"Arrows?" Angora asked."

"Yeah, she's good with them," Launchpad said proudly. Gosalyn smiled.

"OK, then," Charlie said. They could tell he was excited to go up against the Five. "Let's go."

Darkwing was surprised. Why would Negaduck be at the park? Stegmutt had come here to find Bushroot, but why would Negaduck of all people want to spend time here. He hated anything beautiful.

He was close to Negaduck now. Stegmutt and Bushroot weren't far away; Stegmutt was waiting for a chance to take off his helmet and get Bushroot alone. But the woman he was with was listening intently to him. Darkwing wondered why the woman didn't run. Had Bushroot used his mind power on her?

Stegmutt knew he couldn't act in front of this woman. He didn't want to put her in danger. Bushroot might decide to take her hostage. What if she was his hostage already, though? Should he act now, or should he wait to see what happened?

"Stegmutt," someone whispered. He looked over and saw Darkwing motioning for him to come over.

"Look there," Darkwing said when Stegmutt joined him.

Stegmutt looked and saw Negaduck in the bushes.

"Is he spying on them?" he whispered to Darkwing.

"I think so, but why?"

"We can't let the lady get hurt, Mr. Darkwing."

"No, we can't. I don't know why she's with him. He's probably using mind control on her. He wants a friend; he probably just picked her at random."

"What do we do?"

Darkwing thought as he watched them. Bushroot and the woman were looking at plants and Bushroot was telling her about them. She asked questions as if she really wanted to know. Maybe Bushroot had just made her think she was interested.

Negaduck wasn't doing anything; he was just hiding in the bushes, looking bored. Darkwing wished he had psychic powers right now; then he could find out what Negaduck was up to without blowing his and Stegmutt's cover.

The idea hit Darkwing like the refrigerator that hit him if he forgot the milk in his obstacle course. Launchpad was learning the course now and hadn't been hit once. He was really good.

"Focus," he ordered himself.

"Stegmutt, we have spare helmets. You need to go talk to Bushroot and the woman with him. You need to try to convince her to put the helmet on. Then we can find out if he's controlling her, or if he's tricked her in some other way."

"But what will you do, Mr. Darkwing?"

"I'm going to watch Negaduck and make sure he can't interfere."

That was all he could tell Stegmutt for now. He had a bigger plan, but it wasn't time to implement it yet.

Negaduck had been getting psychic reports from the others for a while and all of them, except Bushroot, had been reporting Justice Ducks teasing them, taking off their helmets for a while and putting them back on as soon as they got a fix on their locations. Negaduck knew they were being lured to places they would want to be; the power plant for Megavolt, the bay for Liquidator, the toy factory for Quackerjack. He wondered why none of them were going for him or Bushroot. Darkwing knew them both well enough to know where they would want to be, so why wasn't he sending someone to get them, or why wasn't he coming himself? He had thought Stegmutt was here to get Bushroot, but Stegmutt wasn't even acknowledging Bushroot. He had gone out of Negaduck's field of sight and Negaduck didn't dare move in case Bushy saw him. He had no idea Darkwing was there.

Morgana froze Quackerjack in place with a spell, but left his mouth able to move. He screamed, terrified of not being able to move. He had no idea what was happening to him.

"OK," Morgana said. Her tone was calm and reasonable. "Now, Quackerjack, I'm going to ask you something. You're going to answer truthfully, then you're going to come with me."

"Where?"

"That depends on your answer. Where is the Norma Ray?"

"I can't tell you!"

"If you don't, you'll be like this for a very long time. Maybe someone will mistake you for a toy. You can go home and play with a child. But if you choose that, your mouth will be frozen, too, so you won't be able to call for help. Would you like to be some little girl's clown dolly"

Morgana knew this was a bullying tactic, but she didn't feel she had a choice. She had to get the ray away from the five so the Justice Ducks could take their psychic powers away and make them less dangerous. Also, they needed to make sure they forgot who Dark really was. Morgana had no doubt that Negaduck knew, even if the others didn't. The Five were dangerous enough without psychic abilities and Dark and Gosalyn were in enough danger without anyone knowing Darkwing Duck and Drake Mallard were the same person. At least when he was Drake, Morgana didn't have to worry about his enemies coming after him.

"Oh, you poor thing!" Megavolt cried, picking up the pieces of the light bulb Gizmoduck had just thrown in front of him. "Who did this to you?"

"It was I, Villain!" Gizmoduck said dramatically, springing out from behind the box. "Remember me? Probably not, so let me refresh your memory. Just call me Gizmoduck!"

He pushed a button and a mouse trap extended from one of his hands. Gyro was always improving on the suit. Megavolt was trapped and there was nothing he could do about it. Gizmoduck smiled as he put Megavolt in a bag, took the mouse trap off him, quickly closed the bag and slung it over his shoulder. It was time to find the others. With any luck, within the next few hours, they could finally put the Fearsome Five back in their place and give the Norma Ray back to the only people who knew how to use it properly.

Neptunia prepared to take her helmet off for the last time. She decided to try an experiment. She had a hypothesis; if Liquidator could read her mind, maybe she didn't need psychic powers to read his if he was tuning in on her. She quickly probed his mind, determined that he didn't have the Norma Ray, then put her helmet back on and sprung her trap.

Liquidator's legs got tangled in the fishing line Neptunia had thrown. He tripped and fell into the bay. Now she could go in after him. She wasn't sure what Darkwing's plan was; she wasn't even sure he knew all of it, but whatever it was, it required all the Justice Ducks and all the Fearsome Five to be together.


	9. The Psychic War

Stegmutt was nervous. How was he going to convince this woman to put the helmet on without scaring her? Most people ran screaming from dinosaurs.

Maybe he should approach Bushroot. He knew Stegmutt and wouldn't run from him. He could tell the woman not to be scared.

Heather and Bushroot were completely oblivious to Stegmutt until he spoke.

"Hi, Bushroot," he said happily.

Bushroot and the woman jumped.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you."

"What are you doing here?" Bushroot asked, trying not to sound annoyed. Heather hadn't seen the villain in Bushroot and he didn't want her to. He wanted to be rid of that part of his life. He and Stegmutt were enemies, though; Bushroot would never forget the first time they met. He didn't want another round of put out the Bushroot.

"I came to help stop you and the others," Stegmutt said innocently.

"Stop him?" Heather asked, puzzled. "What others? There's just me and him here. How do you two know each other?"

Heather wasn't afraid of him because Reggie wasn't. He didn't need his psychic powers to keep her calm; she trusted him. If he wasn't afraid of this dinosaur, the dinosaur was no threat.

"I mean Mr. Bushroot and the rest of the Fearsome Five."

"Fearsome Five? You mean those crooks who go around terrorizing the city? Reggie, please, tell me you're not with that Negaduck guy And the rest of his friends!"

It was always big news when the Five got together to wreak havoc on the city. Heather had a horrible feeling Reggie was going to tell her he was with them. If this was true, there was no way she could keep associating with him. She wasn't going to leave one criminal for another; Marvin deserved a male role model who would teach him the right values. Aside from wanting to protect her baby, she couldn't handle watching someone else she loved go to jail. She didn't love Reggie yet, but she thought she could.

"Is he controlling you with his psychic powers?" Stegmutt asked gently.

Heather stared at both of them.

"Heather, I swear," Reggie began frantically, "I never used my psychic powers on you! I was really only with the others because they accepted me, even if it was just so they could get me to do what they wanted. Stegmutt here is one of the Justice Ducks; they do everything they can to stop the Fearsome Five."

"Then you are one of them?" Heather demanded, horrified.

"Yeah," Bushroot admitted softly. "I don't want to be; I-"

"Wait a minute," Heather said as what Stegmutt had said sunk in. "What's he talking about, Reggie? Why does he think you have psychic powers? I know you can talk to plants, but-"

"He and his friends took a very secret weapon that gives people psychic powers," Stegmutt said in his cheerful, innocent, "I want to be everyone's friend" tone.

Bushroot wanted to mow him down. If he wrecked his friendship, if he turned Heather against him-

"My name is Stegmutt. What's yours?"

"I'm Heather."

"I need to ask you to do something, Heather. Will you please put this on?"

He showed her the helmet and she eyed it suspiciously.

"What is it?"

"This will protect you from his mind control."

Heather looked doubtfully from Stegmutt to Reggie and back again. Reggie didn't seem dangerous, but what if he really was controlling her with his mind? This was the only way to find out for sure. She took the helmet and put it on.

Negaduck began to feel a gnawing suspicion. Something was wrong. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was the same feeling he'd had earlier that day when Darkwing had been following him.

He looked around, cursing Licky for not having the foresight to check Shush for weapons against the Norma Ray's affects and taking the helmets before Darkwing and Launchpad could get their hands on them.

Darkwing was here; Negaduck could feel it. But how should he lure him out of hiding? He knew he would have to listen to another one of his dorky double's corny introductions, but right now he didn't care. He wanted a fight.

He saw Heather put the helmet on and became even angrier for a minute, then had a sudden thought. This would be good; he could tell Heather and Bushroot what they had done to them and watch the friendship disintegrate right before his eyes. But he didn't want to do it too soon; the timing had to be perfect. If it was too early, Bushroot might find a way to talk himself out of the situation. If it was too late, he would lose his chance. Maybe he could find a way to get Darkwing to help him. If Bushroot was mad enough at Darkwing, he would shift his focus to him instead of Negaduck and the others. With proper motivation, Bushroot could do to Darkwing what he had done to Gary and Larson. Negaduck felt another surge of frustration as he realized he still had to play things by ear for a while instead of taking immediate control of the situation.

Darkwing was not only bored, but confused. Why was Negaduck just sitting there? Why wasn't he doing something? What would he of all people come to sit in a park for? He was up to something; Darkwing knew it, but he was acting so strange. What was he waiting for?

Darkwing could hear the conversation between Stegmutt, Bushroot and Heather. Maybe Negaduck's weird behavior had something to do with that. The only thing he would admit to sharing with Negaduck, besides their physical appearance, was the frustration of having to wait and see what happened instead of controlling things.

Launchpad looked at the two close dots on his tracker. DW's purple and Stegmutt's green were very close together in the park. There was also a yellow dot that could only be Negaduck. Launchpad hoped there wasn't going to be trouble before they could get there. He knew DW and Stegmutt still had their helmets, and they had spares, but anything could happen, especially with Negaduck involved. He could find a way to destroy the helmets, or at the very least knock them off DW and Stegmutt's heads.

Charlie, sensing that Launchpad was worried, put the siren on and took the shortest route to the park. He wanted to wrap this up as much as Launchpad and Gosalyn did. He was tired of the people he was supposed to serve and protect being in danger and not being able to do anything about it. Now, thanks to Darkwing, Launchpad and the rest of the Justice Ducks, he could finally take action.

At the park, Stegmutt was questioning Heather.

"Did he hurt you?"

"No," Heather said, confused. "I was having a panic attack yesterday and he calmed me down."

"I would never hurt Heather," Bushroot said. His voice was half pleading, half angry.

"I don't know why," Darkwing thought as he listened, still keeping an eye on Negaduck, "but I believe him."

"I'm not so sure of that," Negaduck said maliciously, coming out from the shadows.

"What are you doing here?" Bushroot asked, not bothering to hide his anger this time.

"Use your head, Bushy. I knew the Justice Ducks would come after us sooner or later; tonight's the night. We gotta finish this. We need you to help us defeat them, or it's all over. We'll lose our psychic powers! Do you want that?"

Bushroot thought about that question seriously. He decided he didn't want to be psychic anymore. His plant telepathy was fine, but his more advanced powers were hurting people, including himself. Heather looked betrayed. He didn't need telepathy to know what she was thinking; she was wondering if she really did like him now, or if he had just made her think she liked him. She was also doubting now whether he really liked her, or if he was just using her for some evil purpose.

Bushroot didn't have the chance to answer. There was a rush of water behind him and Liquidator appeared with Neptunia somehow swimming in his puddle. No, Bushroot realized, it only looked like she was swimming. She was actually holding on to Licky's legs with her fins and moving with him to keep him from getting away from her.

"Darkwing, are you here?" Neptunia called. "I've got him!"

There was a sudden sound of a helicopter and everyone looked up to see Gizmoduck's helmet copter. Gizmoduck was holding a bag with a struggling, grunting, angry figure.

"I also have succeeded, my camouflaged compatriot!" Gizmoduck called in his most dramatic voice. "I have cleverly captured the Maniac Megavolt; now all we have to do is wait for-"

"There was a pop and Morgana appeared with Quackerjack magically bound. The clown was actually crying.

Darkwing smiled. Now was the perfect time to make his entrance. It couldn't have worked out better if he'd planned it.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night," he said through the smoke. "I am the song you just can't get out of your head." That was the best reference he could come up with that had to do with psychic powers and mind control. "I am Darkwing Duck!"

The Justice ducks grinned at Darkwing. The Fearsome Five felt varying degrees of frustration, anger and resignation. Negaduck was the only one of the five who was glad to see Darkwing; he was itching for a fight.

"OK, Justice Ducks, release them. This is going to be a fair fight; we're not going to stoop to their level. Besides, we need to have room to blast them to take their powers away once we get the ray back."

"Quackerjack's already free, Dark," Morgana said. "I mean, without the magic, he'll be free; there are no ropes tying him. Are you sure you want me to unbind him? He'll try to get away."

"He won't try to get away; he knows better."

The threat in Darkwing's voice, coupled with the fact that the rest of the Five were essentially captured, was enough to cow Quackerjack into staying where he was. He had enough trouble fighting Darkwing on his own; he didn't need to make himself look stupid by trying to take on all five justice ducks. At least Launchpad and the little girl weren't here; then he'd have seven people try to beat him, and he still wasn't sure the woman Bushroot liked wouldn't try to get in on the fun.

"All right, you mental menaces, which one of you has the Norma Ray?"

"I do," Negaduck said in a gloating tone.

"Why would he admit that?" Darkwing thought. Why was Negaduck acting so out of character tonight?"

"Licky!" Negaduck said unexpectedly. "Drench this thing! If we can't have the Norma Ray, Shush and the Justice Ducks won't have it either! Just get me wet; that way the ray will be destroyed."

"Neptunia!" Darkwing said urgently.

Neptunia grabbed onto Liquidator with her fins. She was actually trying to drink Liquidator's water to keep him from solidifying. It wouldn't work, but it would slow him down.

Stegmutt suddenly grabbed Negaduck and turned to Darkwing.

"I've got him, Mr. Darkwing. Now you can search him and get the ray."

"Good work, Steggers!" Darkwing said with a grin.

"Let me go, you-" Negaduck began.

Stegmutt glared at him. Even Negaduck wasn't crazy enough to mess with a dinosaur, especially when the dinosaur was already holding him captive.

"Got it!" Darkwing said triumphantly. The ray was in the same place on Negaduck that Darkwing kept his gas gun. "Big surprise," he said sarcastically to Negaduck. "I'm a little disappointed, Negs; I thought you'd be more original."

"I could use some help here!" Negaduck said to the rest of the Five. His tone said someone better help him or they'd all be sorry.

He glared over at Heather. Bushroot took the hint and tried to move to free Negaduck from Stegmutt. Darkwing backed away and pulled out his buzz saw cufflinks. Bushroot didn't want a repeat performance of the night Harvey was killed, so he backed away, looking guiltily at Heather. He hoped she wouldn't be angry with him for not standing up to Darkwing after seeing those cufflinks.

"You soggy piece of lettuce!" Darkwing smirked. "One encounter with my buzz saw cufflinks and you run away every time you see them."

"Buzz saw cufflinks," Heather thought. "I can see why Reggie would be afraid of those. No one in their right mind would want to be buzz sawed, especially a plant."

Bushroot saw Heather's look of understanding and sympathy and was relieved. Maybe he wasn't going to lose her friendship after all.

"We can defeat them," Negaduck thought at the others. "We still have our psychic powers. Let's move things around, get in their way, do anything we can to take them out!"

Bushroot was torn. He didn't want to do this in front of Heather. Negaduck, sensing this, sent a mental image of him going after Heather and her son with his machine gun. That decided Bushroot; he had to do it in order to keep Heather and baby Marvin safe. No one else would protect them. He sent a grove of trees after Darkwing.

"They're all in the park now," Gosalyn said, relieved as she looked at the tracker. All the dots were in one place now; pink for Neptunia, red for Morgana, green for Stegmutt, silver for Gizmoduck and purple for Darkwing. She noticed another dot, colored red and blue, that she hadn't seen before. She looked at it and saw that it was in the police car.

"Launchpad, what color is my tracker dot?" The person holding the tracker didn't see their own dot.

"It's red and green. What color is mine?"

"Red and blue."

"DW must have used our hair and eye colors. It makes sense; he had to find something obvious so no one would get confused."

"OK," Angora said, "we're here. Uh-oh!"

They all looked and saw the chaos at the park. Trees were chasing Justice Ducks, fountains were flooding and actually moving on their own. Everything that could be moved was being moved, and even some things that shouldn't be able to move at all."

"Stop the car!" Launchpad said urgently to Charlie. "Let us out and then yah can park!"

Charlie stopped and Launchpad, Gosalyn and Angora jumped out and ran towards the psychic battle.

"How are we supposed to stop this?" Angora's nervousness made her sound angry and almost accusing.

"We need to blast the five again with the ray to take away their psychic powers," Gosalyn said.

"But we don't know who's got the ray; the Five could still have it."

Darkwing felt a rush of relief when he saw Launchpad. Gos and Angora were behind him.

"Launchpad," Darkwing called. Launchpad looked over and saw him battling with his buzz saw cufflinks to defeat a grove of trees. He was only half done and it looked like he was slowly losing ground. "Catch"

He threw the Norma Ray to Launchpad.

"That takes care of that problem," he said to Angora with a grin. "OK, now I can blast them and put us all back on even ground."

"But where are the Five?" Gosalyn asked. "I can't see them."

"They're probably hiding so the Justice Ducks can't attack them directly," Charlie said, coming up behind them.

"No problemo," Launchpad said cheerfully, and blasted himself with the ray.

"Why did you do that?" Angora asked in her nervous, angry, accusing tone.

"How else are we gonna find out where the Fearsome Five are?"

"OK, Launchpad," Gosalyn said eagerly, "blast me!"

"I'm not sure Darkwing would-" Angora began. Gosalyn glared at her.

"Don't worry, Annie," Launchpad said. "None of us are gonna keep our powers; we'll blast ourselves again when it's all over. Besides, if Gos can sense them with her mind she'll know where to aim when she shoots." He pointed at Gosalyn's quiver.

"You're gonna blast us, too, right, Launchpad?" Charlie asked. His tone was almost demanding.

"Sure,"" Launchpad said, as if he thought that had been clear all along. "That's one of the reasons we brought you and Angora; we can't do this ourselves."

He took off his helmet, then blasted Gos and the cops.

Negaduck was the first of the Five to notice something different. Something had changed, but what was it? He paused, which was a mistake because it gave Darkwing the chance to physically attack him. He wondered angrily how Darkwing knew where he was hiding.

It was the homing device, of course, but Darkwing wasn't about to let Negaduck know that. Darkwing was cocky and egotistical, but he was not stupid.

Negaduck grinned evilly. He was in a very interesting and advantageous position now. He could attack Darkwing both physically and psychically. But before he had a chance to use either method, he saw the blue and white light of the Norma Ray. Launchpad had blasted Darkwing and given him psychic powers. Negaduck realized furiously that now he and Darkwing were on even ground again and Negaduck wouldn't be able to fight dirty.

"Thanks, LP!" Darkwing called over his shoulder.

At the same time, he paralyzed Negaduck with a thought, making him completely immobile. Negaduck broke the hold in seconds, though, and tried to force Darkwing into the path of an oncoming fountain. Darkwing counter attacked by changing the fountain's path and knocking Negaduck over with it, simultaneously drenching him in water.

Coughing, Negaduck tried to get to his feet, but tripped over one of the trees Darkwing had buzz sawed.

Bushroot tried to maneuver the trees after the other Justice Ducks, but kept being blocked. Launchpad had blasted all of the heroes by now and the Five were outnumbered, and because of the lack of intelligence and sanity of most of them, out maneuvered.

Heather watched all of this with a feeling of unreality. What was going on here? Reggie was a criminal; he and the rest of these crazy people had been behind all the strange disappearances that had been happening today. These Justice Ducks, one of them being a dinosaur and one being a fish rather than all of them being ducks, plus two Saint Canard police were trying to arrest the man she thought of as a friend, and the crooks he associated with. Part of her wanted to run home to Marvin and her mother; the other part was too curious to see how this would play out. She didn't know whether she wanted Reggie to be arrested or not. If they were going to arrest him, she wasn't going to watch. She had seen the cops drag Max off to jail; she wasn't going to go through that again.

Launchpad had a sudden idea and decided to act on it. What better way to find out whether Bushroot could be reformed? He could read Bushroot's mind, have a mental talk with him, and then either let the cops haul him off to jail or try to convince the cops and DW that he wasn't all bad, depending on the way the conversation went.

He was distracted, though, by a flying bench that was headed right for Charlie. The cop didn't see it because he was distracted by the trees Darkwing hadn't managed to buzz saw before he was blasted with the ray and engaged in battle with Negaduck. Launchpad easily used his mind to direct the bench back to where at had been before the psychics started rearranging the park.

Megavolt suddenly fried the ground at Angora's feet. Annie jumped back, startled, and Gizmoduck mentally sent a jet of water from one of the fountains at Megavolt. He backed up, but collided with Liquidator, who had been trying to avoid being zapped by Morgana.

"Can we wrap this thing up before someone gets hurt?" Angora demanded.

"Good idea, Annie," Charlie said, mentally flinging the last of the attacking trees into the sizzling puddle of water that had been left by Liquidator after his collision with Megavolt. Those two were down for the count.

"Why don't you two cuff them and put them in your police car?" Launchpad asked the cops. "We'll take care of the rest of them, then blast all of us to get rid of these powers."

This just didn't feel natural to Launchpad. He preferred using his own mind and body to win fights, not supernatural powers given to him by something that was supposed to be a miracle of science, but often turned out to be a curse of science. Dr. Bellum had said Norma particles controlled psychic powers in the brain, but Launchpad thought if these abilities were natural everyone would have them, well, naturally. He would be glad when the ray was back at Shush and everything could go back to normal.

Gosalyn was frustrated beyond words. She could sense the five, but couldn't get a clear shot because they were engaging physically with the Justice Ducks as well as psychically. She didn't want to risk hurting her dad or one of her friends. She thought about moving things with her mind like the others were doing, but that might give her position away and she would lose the element of surprise.

Finally she saw Bushroot trying to get to the woman who had been watching this whole thing. Gosalyn wondered why she was here; she seemed to be a bystander. She hadn't tried to help either side. Gos didn't want to take a chance that she would help the Five, though. She knocked a glue arrow and aimed. Her shot was perfect. Bushroot took a step and then couldn't move any further.

Launchpad saw his chance when Gosalyn's arrow stuck Bushroot. He made his way over to the plant duck, carefully avoiding flying objects and combatants.

"Can we talk?" he asked in Bushroot's head.

Bushroot stared at him in surprise.

"You never answered my question. What were you guys gonna use Harvey for the other night?"

Bushroot suddenly felt trapped. His feelings were conflicted; he wanted to be good. He wanted to be worthy of Heather. He liked Heather and Marvin and wanted to be part of their lives, even if only as a friend. But the Fearsome Five had wrecked that for him; he was sure of it. He also wanted to keep Gosalyn from being hurt by the Five. Just because Negaduck hadn't done anything to her so far didn't mean he wouldn't. He also wanted revenge on the Five for ruining his relationship with Heather, and on Stegmutt for giving away his secret. But Stegmutt was one of the good guys. Bushroot's confusion made him resentful of everyone, including Gosalyn for being in a position to be hurt by Negaduck in the first place. She was just a little girl. Bushroot thought she had no place following a super hero around. He thought she should be in school and playing with her friends, not fighting crime.

A flood of thoughts and feelings invaded Launchpad's mind; they were Bushroot's, not his own. In a few seconds, Launchpad learned everything he wanted to know about Dr. Reginald Bushroot, and then some.

Contrary to what most people believed, Launchpad could multitask. As he talked with Bushroot with his mind, he blasted everyone, starting with the Fearsome Five, with the Norma Ray. Bushroot was distracted by all his conflicting thoughts and emotions, so he didn't even try to stop Launchpad from blasting his companions. Once the tide of thoughts subsided, Launchpad blasted Bushroot and himself with the ray, then turned to see what was happening with the cops and the Justice ducks.

Charlie and Annie had Liquidator and Megavolt in custody already and Darkwing and Gizmoduck brought Quackerjack and Negaduck.

"Hey!" Bushroot cried, suddenly realizing what had happened. "You took away my powers!"

"Yeah, I did, and the rest of the Five are back to normal, too."

"That's right," Darkwing said triumphantly, "and you're all going to jail."

"Wait!" Bushroot cried urgently. "I need to talk to Heather first!"

"DW," Launchpad began, "I gotta talk to you, too."

"Later, LP, after we take care of these guys."

"Heather!"

Bushroot ran over to her. She stared at him, stunned. She had seen him try to hurt people tonight. She was afraid of him now. He could see it, too, and felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Darkwing tried to move towards them, but Launchpad put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, DW. This has something to do with part of what I have to talk to you about."

"What?" Darkwing asked, not sure whether to be curious or annoyed.

"Just watch and you'll see part of what I mean."

"What you mean by what?"

"Just wait and see. It's better if yah see for yourself, anyway, rather than me trying to convince yah. We tried that the other night."

Darkwing did feel annoyed now. This had to do with LP's crazy theory on Bushroot being good.

"Heather, please," Bushroot began.

"No, Reggie," Heather said sadly. "I told you before. I watched Marvin's father being dragged off to jail. I can't hook up with another criminal. Marvin and I both deserve better. Goodbye, Reggie, and take back your locket. I don't want stolen gifts."

She paused briefly, her fear being mixed with sympathy as she saw the pain in Reggie's eyes. She believed he honestly was lonely, but she had her son to think about. Marvin was not going to be raised around criminals like the Fearsome Five.

"I'm sorry, she said quietly.

She turned her back on him and walked out of the park, pausing only to throw the helmet to Darkwing. She was glad she hadn't put Marvin's picture in the locket yet. Pausing to take the picture out would have slowed her down and she wanted to be away from Reggie and this entire mess.

Bushroot watched her go until she disappeared completely from his view, then looked back at Launchpad and Darkwing. They were both standing there watching him. It made him angry that Darkwing saw that he was fighting back tears. Darkwing didn't believe Bushroot could have any redeeming qualities. He wasn't ready yet to stop living down to Darkwing's expectations, despite his psychic powwow with Launchpad and the advice from Herman. Heather was gone. He had tried to help her, but she'd still rejected him.

"Take me to jail," he said to Launchpad, giving up the fight and starting to cry.

Darkwing moved toward him.

"Not you," Bushroot yelled angrily, "him!"

"Huh?" Darkwing asked, confused.

"You heard me!" Bushroot yelled, his anger building. "I want Launchpad to take me into custody, not you! Stay right there or _I'll sick Spike on you!"_

_Spike, Bushroot's Venus Flytrap dog, had been watching everything and had even tried to fight Stegmutt. He limped over to Bushroot and glared at Darkwing, growling low in his throat._

_Darkwing wasn't sure what he was feeling now. Bushroot was crying over a girl. Could LP have been right? And he wanted Launchpad to take him into custody, but didn't want Darkwing anywhere near him. Was that because Bushroot somehow knew LP thought he could be good? Darkwing had the same feeling of role reversal as he'd had the other night when he was arguing with Launchpad over Bushroot's possibly being reformed._

"_OK, LP," he said, "uh, bring him to Annie and Charlie."_

"_Don't worry," Launchpad said softly to Bushroot as he led him over to the police car. "I'll convince DW; I think seeing you with Heather brought him part of the way there. Then we'll see if there's any way we can help yah."_

"_It doesn't matter now," Bushroot said hopelessly. "Heather's gone. You saw what I was thinking; you know-"_

"_Yeah, I do, and I'm gonna find a way to convince DW. It'll be OK."_

_Bushroot had stopped crying by now. He was surprised by Launchpad's gentle tone._

"_OK, Annie," Charlie said happily, "cuff this guy and we can put them all in the slammer where they belong!"_

_Launchpad and Bushroot exchanged a look as Annie put the handcuffs on him. Launchpad wanted to say something to Charlie about the literal meeting of the minds he'd had with Bushroot, but thought he'd better tell DW first. After all, he was DW's sidekick and most of the cops still thought DW was a joke. He thought it would have been disloyal to tell Annie and Charlie about this before he told DW._

"_Hey, Launchpad," Bushroot called through the door of the police car._

_Launchpad looked back, gesturing for Annie to wait before she closed the door. Annie gave him a puzzled look, but complied._

"_Thanks," Bushroot said softly, trying to smile._

_He knew instinctively why Launchpad hadn't tried to defend him to the cops. "I may be a villain," he thought, "but I do understand and respect loyalty."_

_Launchpad gave him the thumbs up sign and a sympathetic smile before turning to go back to Darkwing._

_He looked around at the mess the park had become as he walked towards the Ratcatcher, where DW and Gosalyn were waiting for him. Everyone looked as tired as he felt. Psychic powers took a lot out of you. Launchpad wondered why the Five weren't completely exhausted. He supposed it was because they'd had time to practice._

_Darkwing, Launchpad and Gosalyn said goodbye to the Justice Ducks and they all went to their respective homes. Darkwing stopped at Shush first to deliver the Norma Ray so there would be no more trouble with it. J Gander promised it would be kept under strict security from now on. To everyone's great relief, the psychic war was over._


	10. Revelations

_Negaduck was feeling a mixture of anger, annoyance and satisfaction. He was furious that his psychic powers, and the Norma Ray, had been taken back. He was annoyed that the whole Bushroot situation hadn't gone according to Negaduck's plan, but at least he had the satisfaction of knowing that Bushroot's relationship with Heather was over and there was a very good chance of turning him back over to their side once and for all._

"_It wouldn't have lasted, anyway, Bushy," he said with fake sympathy._

_Bushroot glared at him._

"_What do you know about it?"_

"_I know because Licky and I planned for you two to get together. I had Licky plant the images in her head that caused her to have that panic attack._

"_What?"_

"_Your friendship with Heather was all orchestrated. I needed to get you back on track; I heard you talking to that tree in Duckburg. It was the way you were looking at Launchpad that made me suspicious; I decided to follow you in case you were thinking of turning traitor and make sure you stayed loyal to us."_

_Fortunately for Negaduck, Charlie pulled up to the police station just then. Bushroot was so angry he could have done anything, despite the handcuffs. With the adrenalin coursing through him, he felt like he could have broken the cuffs with his bare hands and then killed Negaduck the same way._

_Negaduck grinned, seeing Bushroot's expression. It looked as if Bushy was finally back on the team. He knew what Bushroot was thinking, but thought it was good because he could help him channel his anger into defeating Darkwing and the Justice Ducks once they were out of jail. Negaduck thought he finally had things back under his control and Bushroot thought he was doomed to live a life of evil, no matter what he really wanted. Neither of them knew that Bushroot was actually at a crossroads and could go either way._

"_What was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Darkwing asked Launchpad as they pulled out of Shush Central and headed for the tower._

"_I had a psychic conversation with Bushroot before I took his powers away. I was right. He really does want to be good."_

"_Launchpad-" Darkwing began, more sharply than he'd intended._

"_Wait, DW; listen to me. He met Heather by accident and they became friends naturally. Bushroot consciously tried not to control her with his mind; the one time he caught himself he stopped. Negaduck knows Gosalyn's your daughter; so do the others. Bushroot wanted to keep them from hurting her. They were at the school the other night because they wanted to find out who she was and how she was connected to you. Negaduck wanted to hurt you through Gos."_

"_Dad, we didn't make them forget!" Gosalyn said._

"_I made them forget just before I blasted them with the ray," Launchpad said calmly._

_Gosalyn relaxed._

"_Good thinking, LP," Darkwing said, smiling. He knew he didn't always give Launchpad enough credit. He was even willing to admit, if only to himself, that there were times when he downplayed Launchpad's importance to make himself feel more important. He knew it wasn't fair, but didn't consider that when he was doing it._

_Gosalyn looked at Darkwing briefly, thinking he had no idea how little credit he gave Launchpad. She had only realized tonight how unfair they'd both been to him since the day they met._

"_Yeah," she said, smiling at Launchpad. "I'll bet none of us even thought of it. I know I didn't."_

_Darkwing suddenly felt guilty. He didn't know about the rest of the Justice Ducks, but in all the excitement of the psychic war the thought of the Fearsome Five knowing Gosalyn was his daughter, and maybe even his true identity, never crossed his mind._

"_Well," Launchpad said, "there was a lot happening before. Nobody can be expected to remember everything."_

_Gosalyn smiled again. She had seen Darkwing's face and knew what he was thinking. She knew Launchpad had also seen and was trying to make Darkwing feel better. Launchpad always knew how to look on the bright side._

"_LP," Darkwing continued, "are you sure you can trust Bushroot's thoughts?"_

"_I trust my instincts, DW, and his thoughts and feelings flooded my mind. For a few seconds I was almost-" he paused, not sure how to express how it felt to have someone else in your mind._

"_Did it feel like he was taking over your mind?" Gosalyn asked._

"_Yes and no. It felt like he needed me to feel what he felt. He wanted me to know everything; I could feel it. His thoughts he could probably fake, but not his feelings."_

"_You have no doubt about this, do you?" it was more of a statement than a question. Darkwing couldn't deny the possibility now; not with Launchpad so adamant. LP had been in Bushroot's mind; Darkwing hadn't._

"_Remember when you asked me if what happened to Harvey confirmed for me that Bushroot was good?"_

"_Yeah, you said it didn't actually confirm it."_

"_This did. Bushroot's being pulled in two different directions and he's afraid he's not gonna be able to go in the direction he wants. He doubts himself that he could be good, but he does want to be, and he has even more doubts that Negaduck will allow him to be good, even if he can overcome his evil impulses."_

_Darkwing thought about everything that had happened in the last few days, especially the conversations and events involving Bushroot. Maybe he had been too judgmental._

"_I think we need to talk more about this, Launchpad, but right now we're all exhausted. We'll talk more tomorrow and decide what to do about Bushroot then. If he really does want to prove himself, he should have the chance. I've had the feeling for the last few days that if he wanted to be good you wanted to help him reform. Am I right?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Then, if he wants to, I'll help you help him."_

"_Great! But how do we do it, especially with him in jail?"_

_Darkwing turned off the Ratcatcher._

"_We'll talk about all that tomorrow after we've all had a good night's sleep. We're home."_

_He got out of the bike. Launchpad and Gosalyn smiled at each other. Darkwing knew what they were probably thinking. Gosalyn was probably thinking something like "Dad's finally gotten it through his thick head," and Launchpad was probably thinking something like "see? I wasn't crazy!" Launchpad would have known that had been what Darkwing had been thinking, only Darkwing had thought the theory was crazy, not LP himself. Darkwing's ego had deflated enough tonight to admit that Launchpad had instinctively known more about this particular situation than Darkwing had even been willing to consider. He made a promise to himself that he would try harder to listen to what Launchpad said without being judgmental or dismissive. Darkwing wasn't always right and it was time he accepted that fact._

_Bushroot looked over at his cell mate. It was a brown-haired, brown-eyed duck with a face that was somehow familiar. The features reminded Bushroot of someone, but he couldn't place who._

"_Hi there," the duck said amiably._

"_Hi," Bushroot said flatly._

"_What are you in for?"_

"_Psychic robbery."_

"_Huh?"_

"_It's a long story."_

"_My name's Max Aubrey. What's yours?"_

"_Reggie Bushroot," he said, then realized what the other duck had just said._

_That was why the duck's features were familiar. Marvin looked a lot like his father._

_Bushroot was suddenly livid. This was the guy who had made Heather afraid to be Bushroot's friend. This was the stinkweed who had sacrificed his wife and child for the possibility of splitting a huge pile of cash with the Beagle Boys. Bushroot would give anything to have what this idiot had thrown away without a second thought._

_He sprang to his feet and approached the surprised duck._

"_Max Aubrey? Heather Aubrey's husband? The guy who robbed that rich duck in Duckburg and left a wife and baby to fend for themselves?" Bushroot's voice was rising with his fury._

"_How do you-" Max began, stunned._

"_I made friends with Heather yesterday," Bushroot snarled, reaching his vines for Max. The other duck was too surprised and scared to react, so the vines caught him easily and tightened around his legs. They slowly rose up his body as Bushroot continued speaking. "It's partly your fault that she wants nothing more to do with me! She didn't even give me a chance to explain to her that I want to be good because she's afraid of ending up in a similar situation to the one you put her in!"_

"_You want to be with my wife? What, do you want to be her boyfriend? She's married! I'm her-"_

"_You stopped being anything to her the day she saw the cops take you away; she told me herself! She also told me you won't leave her alone and that you're making her life miserable! I care about Heather; you obviously don't!"_

"_Don't you-"_

_The vines reached his neck and choked him, not enough to put him in danger of being killed, but just enough to shut him up. His eyes were wide; his face was pale. He was more scared than he'd ever been in his life. This guy was insane. He should have known he was a freak when he looked at him; purple hair, leafy hands, the weirdo was half plant!_

"_I may not be able to be Heather's friend anymore, but I can do something to help her. I can get rid of you. Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna call her and tell her you're agreeing to the divorce. You're gonna apologize to her for the way you've been treating her and you're gonna promise to leave her alone. You're gonna keep that promise, or I'll make you sorry you ever even thought of breaking it! I care about her; I don't want her being tortured by a selfish creep like you!"_

_He released the vines around Max's throat enough to let him talk._

"_Understand?"_

"_Yes," Max said desperately, "only please don't hurt me!"_

"_Do what's right for Heather and Marvin and you won't have to worry about me hurting you."_

"_OK, tomorrow! I'll call her tomorrow and tell her everything you want me to tell her, and I'll make good on it, too! I promise!"_

"_OK," Bushroot said, retracting the rest of the vines and freeing Max._

_Max gasped for air, too scared to say anything else. This freak really did know Heather. She had apparently been shooting her mouth off to anyone who would listen._

_Max was only giving her the divorce because he was afraid of Bushroot. He would find a way to get her back once he was out of jail, and he would also find a way to continue his criminal activities without Heather knowing. He didn't want to be one of those guys who had to break his back to give his wife and kids what he wanted to give them; Heather and Marvin were going to live the good life, and Max was going to be able to enjoy it with them instead of having to be stuck in a job he hated. He had dropped out of High School; he hated having to bow down to authority. He was his own person and no one would ever tell him how to live, especially not his wife. Max realized now that he'd been too soft with her. She had to learn, when he was finally back in a position to teach her, that he was the boss and things had to be done his way. She was going to marry him again when he got out of jail; he would see to it. He was also going to find a way to get her away from her busy body mother. This wasn't over._

_Bushroot plopped face down on his bed. He thought doing something good for Heather would make him feel better, but it only made him feel disgusted with himself, and that led to frustration because he didn't know why he was disgusted. He had gotten Max out of Heather's life for her; that was what she wanted. Bushroot had been in a unique position to give it to her, so why didn't it make him feel good? Wasn't being good supposed to make you feel good? "You reap what you sew," Herman had said, so why did this feel so wrong? He wished he could talk to Herman now, or Launchpad, or even Darkwing. He had a feeling any one of them could have told him what he needed to know. Bushroot's last thought before he fell into an uneasy sleep was that Heather would finally be free to be happy. That did make him feel a little better. If he couldn't be happy, at least his friend could be, even if she didn't want to be his friend anymore. The thought of her and baby Marvin being free of Max made Bushroot able to sleep more peacefully._

_The next morning, Heather was quiet. Her mother and Marvin had been asleep when she got home, and she didn't want to tell Elizabeth about what had happened in the park. She just didn't want to get into it._

"_Are you all right, Heather?" Elizabeth asked, genuinely concerned._

"_I'm fine," Heather lied._

"_No, I can tell you're not. I always know when something is bothering you. Are you feeling all right?"_

"_Yes, Mom," Heather said, trying not to lose her patience. "I feel fine."_

"_Then what's wrong."_

"_I don't want to talk about it now."_

"_Did you have a fight with Reggie?" Elizabeth pressed._

"_Mother, please!" Heather snapped, "I don't want to talk about it!"_

"_All right, Dear, but-"_

_Elizabeth was cut off by the ringing phone._

"_I'll get it," Heather said quickly._

_She wanted to get the phone to keep from having to talk to her mother about Reggie, but she also didn't want it to wake Marvin. She wanted to calm down before he woke up. She knew she shouldn't have snapped at her mother like that, but sometimes Elizabeth didn't know when to leave her alone._

"_Hello?"_

"_Heather," Max began._

"_Oh no," Heather thought, "this is all I need today."_

_But then Max's tone penetrated her tired brain. She hadn't slept well the night before. She'd had nightmares of Max and Reggie chasing her and Marvin through a pitch black maze, with the rest of the Fearsome Five close behind them._

"_What's wrong?" she asked, concerned. Max sounded terrified._

"_I've decided to give you the divorce. I'll never bother you again; I'm sorry I've been such a pain. I'm sorry for everything."_

_Heather couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was relieved, worried and amazed._

"_That's good, but what made you change your mind? I'm not complaining; I just-"_

"_Your friend, Reggie Bushroot! He wants me to leave you alone and he's gonna make sure I do!"_

"_What?"_

"_Don't worry, Heather; I'll agree to anything you want! The divorce will go off without a hitch!"_

"_OK," was all Heather could think of to say._

"_So why don't you bring the divorce papers by during visiting hours and I'll sign them."_

"_But shouldn't we have our lawyers-"_

"_No, that's OK. I trust you."_

"_I'll be there later, then."_

"_OK, bye."_

_He hung up before Heather could say anything else. She stared at the phone until she heard the dial tone, then finally put it down._

"_Heather, what is it?" Elizabeth asked, feeling very worried. Heathers' expression was odd. She looked as if she didn't know whether she was going to laugh or cry. She did neither._

"_Max is giving me the divorce. Reggie took care of it."_

"_Reggie?"_

_Heather told her mother everything, starting with meeting Stegmutt while she was in the park with Reggie and ending with her giving him the locket back and walking out of the park._

"_I knew it!" Mrs. Fern cried, feeling sorry for Heather and worried that this would be the last straw. Heather looked so shocked._

"_You knew what?"_

"_When you mentioned his name to me the first time and that he was a plant, something worried me, but I couldn't put my finger on it."_

"_Well, I'm not sure now whether you do have to worry."_

"_What do you mean? Heather, please, don't tell me you're thinking about continuing to associate with that criminal! Max is bad enough, but-"_

"_Mom, you don't understand! Reggie ended up in the same sell as Max and somehow convinced him to let me have the divorce. Max is finally out of our lives for good!"_

"_But how did Reggie-"_

"_I don't know, but Max is definitely sincere. I think he's afraid of Reggie. Most people are; they just can't accept a mutant plant duck."_

_She knew she was babbling now, but her feelings were so conflicted that she couldn't stop. She was relieved that Max was finally cooperating, but she was worried about how Reggie had convinced him to give her what she wanted. She hoped Reggie hadn't hurt him._

_Part of her didn't think it mattered. Whether or not she ever saw Reggie again, she was finally freed from her unhappy marriage. Even more important, Marvin was free of his thieving, dishonest, potentially dangerous father._

_Elizabeth was also having mixed feelings. She was grateful to Reggie for freeing Heather of Max, but she didn't want him hurting her. He was a criminal, just like Max. Elizabeth wondered if Heather would forgive Reggie's criminal activities with the Fearsome five because of what he'd just done for her. Reggie might take advantage of Heather's gratitude. Elizabeth was afraid Heather was jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. She would keep an eye on the situation. She wouldn't interfere unless she had to._

"_I did it," Max told Bushroot. "Heather's going to bring the divorce papers by later. You can ask her yourself when she gets here-"_

"_I'll know if she gets here and gives you the papers. If she comes before my arraignment I'll watch you sign them."_

_He turned his back on Max, wanting to be left alone. Max glared at Bushroot's back. "When I get out of here and get my wife and son back," he thought furiously, "I'm gonna make you pay for this. I don't know how yet, but you're gonna wish you never even met my wife. Nobody crosses Max Aubrey and gets away with it."_

_Max smiled, picturing all the ways he could get even with everyone who had crossed him, from this unnatural freak to Heather's mother to Heather herself. Max was going to come out on top; he was going to be the winner, no matter what it took. Once his sentence was up, his word would be law as far as Heather was concerned. Max's wife would bend to his will, and regardless of some piece of paper, she would still be his wife. Marriage was forever. Heather could say she was divorced, but she couldn't just walk away from him. Heather had some hard lessons to learn and Max was just the person to teach her._

_Heather was already afraid of him, but not afraid enough. He would have to make it clear that if she didn't get with Max's program she would lose Marvin. He would take the kid away and she would never see him again. The mere threat of that would also ensure that she stayed away from Bushroot. Max was going to get Heather back if it was the last thing he did. Everyone would know she was his forever._


	11. Doubts, Lies and Testimony

_After finally getting Gosalyn off to school, Drake went into the kitchen where Launchpad was just finishing his breakfast. Gos had fought hard to stay home from school; she wanted to help Launchpad and Drake decide how to help reform Bushroot. Drake had promised not to leave her out and that they would discuss it when she got home. He left out that he wouldn't leave her out unless he had reason to believe it could become dangerous. He still wasn't completely convinced that Bushroot really wanted to be good._

"_So, have yah got any ideas about how we're gonna help Bushroot, DW?" Launchpad asked as he helped with the dishes._

"_Well, I think we need to have a talk with him first. If he wants our help, we'll put in a good word for him with the judge at the Five's trial. We'll also talk with Charlie and Annie and see if they'll do the same. Do they know anything about your mental conversation last night?"_

"_No, I thought I should tell you first."_

"_Well, if we can convince them, I think the judge will be more inclined to listen. He may or may not listen to us, but the word of two cops should carry some weight."_

_Later, at the jail, Bushroot was surprised to see Darkwing and Launchpad._

"_What are you two doing here?"_

_There was no anger in his tone, just curiosity._

"_We wanted to talk to you about last night," Darkwing said._

"_Does he believe you?" Bushroot asked Launchpad. "Does he know I wanted to help Gosalyn?"_

"_I'm not completely convinced, Bushroot," Darkwing said before Launchpad could answer, "but I am willing to accept the possibility now. If you want our help, we'll see what we can do."_

"_I do!" Bushroot cried eagerly. "I want to be good! I want to be worthy of Heather!"_

_Darkwing stared at him. He really did like that girl. He hadn't been using her._

_Darkwing didn't think Heather would have anything to do with Bushroot after last night, but thought it wouldn't be wise to say so._

"_All right, Bushroot. We'll make a deal with you. Launchpad will tell the judge about the conversation you two had, about you wanting to help Gosalyn and how Negaduck intimidated you into helping him last night."_

"_Will you tell him about Heather, too? Will you tell him I never tried to control her?"_

"_I will if it comes up," Launchpad said._

"_Maybe she'll believe me if she hears it from you," Bushroot said hopefully._

_Darkwing and Launchpad looked at each other, both thinking that Heather probably wouldn't be at the arraignment hearing, or the trial, unless someone called her to testify. Charlie and Annie might have told the District Attorney about her; if they had, the lawyer would definitely want her to testify for the State._

"_I'm going to ask the judge to let you spend a trial period with Launchpad and me," Darkwing continued. "We'll try to help you reform, under certain conditions."_

"_What conditions?"_

"_Well, some of them will depend on what the judge wants, if he agrees. Ours are simple, though. You do one evil thing, for whatever reason, and we'll tell the judge it didn't work and you'll be back in here where you started."_

"_Do you think the judge will agree?"_

"_I don't know. For now all we can do is wait and see."_

_Max listened to this conversation with disgust. He was also a little worried. If Bushroot could convince Heather that he'd changed, Heather just might take him back. Max didn't know how far the relationship between his wife and the freak who was sharing a cell with him had gone, but he thought Bushroot was telling the truth when he'd said they were just friends. It didn't matter. Heather was Max's and this plant duck had no business hanging around her._

_But Bushroot really did want to be good, if he was telling these two strangers the truth. What if he did reform? What if these two guys managed to help him turn over a new leaf? Max winced at his mental pun. He hated puns of any kind. This one had slipped through his brain before he could stop it._

"_It doesn't matter," he thought. "Regardless of what happens with Bushroot, Heather is mine. I'm the one she's going to take back. I can convince her that I've changed. She'll never know I'm the same crook I was the day the cops put me in here."_

_Max had been covertly helping crooks like the Beagle Boys for a share of the loot ever since he'd dropped out of school. This was the first time he'd ever been caught, and he was going to do whatever was necessary to make sure it was the last. He'd had a lot of time to think in the last year. He decided his mistake was going after one of the big guys. From now on, once he was out of jail, he would stick to the small time victims who didn't have good security systems, and often had no security system at all. If he committed enough crimes, his wealth could add up and he could get rich quicker than anyone he knew. His family was going to have the best of everything, as long as Heather behaved herself._

_After leaving Bushroot, Darkwing and Launchpad went to find Charlie and Annie. They were just about to go on their lunch break, so Darkwing and Launchpad went with them so they could talk about the case away from the cops who didn't like Darkwing. They listened carefully to Launchpad's recounting of his mental meeting with Bushroot and agreed to be as objective as they could be where Bushroot was concerned. Things had been so crazy last night that there wasn't much they could say about him and Heather. They had seen her watching and they had seen Bushroot's face when Launchpad had brought him to the car, but that was about it. They couldn't really help or hurt Bushroot's case._

_While Darkwing and Launchpad were talking with Annie and Charlie, Heather came to have Max sign the divorce papers. Bushroot watched, hoping Heather would say something to him, but she didn't even look at him when she walked in. She was grateful to him for getting Max to give her the divorce, but it changed nothing. Reggie was still a criminal and she couldn't ignore what she'd seen last night. Also, the nagging question wouldn't leave her mind. "What did Reggie do to get Max to give me this divorce?" Max seemed genuinely afraid of him. Reggie had obviously bullied him somehow._

_Heather had mixed feelings. She felt like a hypocrite for accepting the divorce. It was what she wanted and she'd been fighting with Max for it for over a year. Reggie had somehow scared Max into giving her the divorce. But she was so glad to finally be free of Max, and once she was free of him she would be free of Reggie, too. But Reggie had helped her with Max. Wasn't it wrong to reject him now? But it was definitely wrong to be his friend out of gratitude, especially when he was a criminal. She couldn't do that to Marvin, or to herself. She and her baby needed to put both of these men behind them and find someone with the right morals and values. This was the right thing to do. Wasn't it?_

_She hated this self-doubt! Of course it was right, she decided. Marvin came first and being with either of these men was not in his best interests. But she was still feeling hypocritical. She had turned her back on both of them because they were criminals, but now she was accepting the divorce that Max was obviously giving her under threat of- what? Heather had no real proof that Reggie had forced Max. He was signing the papers, and he hadn't actually said outright that Reggie had hurt him. He didn't look hurt either._

"_Wait," Heather said as Max took the pen. "I have to know something first. Reggie, how did you get Max to agree to the divorce?"_

"_Well, I-" Reggie began, but Max cut him off. This was his chance to make Heather think he'd changed. If he made this guy look good, Heather would think Max was being less selfish. Bushroot could help him get his wife back without even being aware of it. "I don't know if you know this or not," Max thought, smiling at Bushroot with fake sincerity, "but you're my meal ticket back to my wife and kid."_

"_He just had a talk with me. He told me how unhappy you were and made me see that it was because I was forcing you to stay in a marriage that you didn't want. I want you and Marvin to be happy; if you're not happy, Marvin won't be happy, so I'm giving you the divorce."_

"_Then why did you sound so scared when you called me this morning?"_

"_Did I?" Max asked innocently. "I guess he just caught me off guard last night. I needed some time to get used to rooming with a mutant plant duck. But Bushroot's an OK guy."_

_Max gave him a smile that didn't fool Bushroot one bit. Heather was so relieved to have Max allay her fears that she smiled at both of them._

"_So you still want me to sign the papers, right?" he asked sadly._

"_Yes, Max, please, I want this to finally be over."_

_He signed them and Heather thanked him, then thanked Reggie for convincing Max to do the right thing. She gave them both a smile of gratitude before she called the guard to escort her out of the jail._

_She forced away the niggling doubt that Max was telling the truth. What reason would he have to lie? He had to know she would be angry with Reggie for threatening Max into giving her the divorce. They both had to know she wouldn't approve of that. If Max wanted to make more trouble, all he had to do was tell her that Reggie had scared him into signing the papers. She told herself everything was fine and this was all for the best._

_She decided to stay for Reggie's hearing. She was curious to know what would happen to him and the rest of the Fearsome five. She wouldn't stay to watch him go back to jail, though. She was sure that was what would happen. She had been Reggie's friend for a short time. In fact, she'd been his only real friend in a long time until last night. She owed him at least this much for what he'd just given her. She would be his moral support just this once. She wouldn't help his case, but she wouldn't hurt it either. She probably wouldn't even be called to the stand; she would most likely be a spectator._

_The arraignment was set for two that afternoon. Bushroot was the only one of the Fearsome Five to plead guilty. The public defender entered the plea, but claimed extenuating circumstances, namely the intimidation by Negaduck. Bushroot had committed yesterday's crimes, and especially last night's crimes at the park, under extreme duress._

_The judge listened without interruption to all the testimony, until Launchpad got to Bushroot's part in the whole mess._

"_You think this plant is good."_

"_Yes, Sir, I think he can be."_

"_Do you have any hard evidence to prove this?"_

"_Well, no, but I had a psychic talk with him last night, and DW can tell yah Bushroot's teamed up to help us a few times. He's not all bad, Your Honor, and he wants to be better; he told me with his mind last night."_

_Launchpad explained what it was like to be in Bushroot's mind. He explained that Bushroot might have been able to fool him with his thoughts, but not with his feelings. They had been too intense to be dismissed as a trick._

_When Darkwing testified, he backtracked to the night he and Launchpad had found the Fearsome Five at the Saint Canard Elementary school and the talked he'd had with Launchpad afterwards. He wanted the judge to know that Darkwing wasn't just rushing into this, that he had needed to be convinced that Bushroot had some good in him and that he wouldn't be asking what he was about to ask if he didn't trust Launchpad's instincts, as well as his own. He made it clear to the judge that Launchpad had been the one in Bushroot's mind and that Darkwing trusted Launchpad implicitly._

"_I don't know about this, Mr. Darkwing," the judge said when Darkwing had made his request. "You say you needed convincing. What if you were right the first time?"_

"_Then, I'll gladly let you do whatever you want with Bushroot, Sir, but I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt considering everything that's happened."_

_The judge looked at Launchpad for a long moment before he spoke again. He had been watching Bushroot and paid close attention to the looks he was giving Launchpad. There was no mistaking the looks of trust and gratitude._

"_From what I've seen today, young man, Dr. Bushroot seems to trust you. He seems to believe you'll help him. Would you help him even if Darkwing wouldn't?"_

_Launchpad felt uncomfortable. He was DW's sidekick, and his best friend. How could he help Bushroot if DW wouldn't?_

"_I'm loyal to DW, Judge."_

"_I don't doubt that, but if you believe Dr. Bushroot is good, wouldn't you want to help him?_

"_Well, yeah, but-"_

"_I'm not asking you to betray your friend, Mr. McQuack. I'm only asking if you believe in Dr. Bushroot enough to want to help him, even if Darkwing didn't believe you, if he still thought you were crazy for even thinking Dr. Bushroot could be reformed. You've answered my question to my satisfaction."_

"_Does that mean you'll let us try to do this, Your Honor?" Bushroot asked hopefully._

"_Yes, but on the same condition that Darkwing stated; mess up once in the next six months, Dr. Bushroot, and you land right back in jail. Also, you're not to go anywhere without the supervision of Mr. Darkwing or Mr. McQuack. We're also going to put a monitor bracelet on you. Reginald Bushroot, I release you into the custody of Darkwing Duck and Launchpad McQuack for a period of six months, at which time, we will reconvene for a follow up and I will determine whether or not you will need further punishment, or have reformed enough to be a viable member of society. Since the rest of the Fearsome Five have pled not guilty, their trial date is set for January second at 9:00 AM."_

_When it was over, Heather asked Darkwing and Launchpad to give her and Reggie a little privacy._

"_I know you can't leave him alone; you don't have to leave his sight. I just want to talk with him for a minute."_

_Darkwing and Launchpad went back a few yards, far enough that they could still see Bushroot, but not close enough that they could listen to them._

"_I want to thank you again, Reggie. You have no idea what a relief it is to have this divorce over with. That's why I stayed; I figured the least I could do for you was to offer you moral support today. But I still don't think we can be friends after last night. I'm not saying this to hurt you; I just didn't want you to have false hope after seeing me in the courtroom."_

_Bushroot looked at her sadly for a few seconds, then brightened a little._

"_What if you give me a trial period, too?" he asked hopefully. "Six months, just like Darkwing and the judge."_

"_I don't know," she said doubtfully. It sounded fair, but Max wasn't getting a trial period from anyone. How could she do for Reggie what she refused to do for Max?_

_Bushroot knew what she was thinking. Max had told her he'd changed, too. She didn't believe him, so why should she believe Bushroot? She knew Max for years; she'd only known Bushroot for a few days._

"_I understand," he said quietly, feeling defeated. "I really blew it last night."_

_He turned to walk towards Launchpad and Darkwing._

"_I'm really sorry, Reggie. I wish things could be different, but I just-"_

"_So do I, but it's OK. I hope you find someone who makes you and Marvin happy."_

_Heather left the courtroom feeling horrible. Part of her wondered what would be so wrong with giving Bushroot a trial period. The judge was doing it. So was Darkwing. Launchpad believed Reggie was good. But then she thought of Max. She knew instinctively that he hadn't changed. She knew his facial expressions and body language; they had been together since High School. He was lying to her every time he said he'd changed._

"_Then how do you know he's not lying to you about Reggie and what made him change his mind?" a nagging voice asked in the back of her mind. "Did Reggie threaten him, or was Max lying to make himself look good by making Reggie look good? Was he really scared of Reggie like you thought, or do you just want to believe what Max told you?"_

_Heather hated that particular mental voice. It sounded like her mother and piped up every time she had serious doubts about something._

_She had called her mother and asked for the rest of the day off so she could be at the hearing. Her mother had reluctantly agreed, but managed to throw in more than one comment about how this couldn't be good for Heather's emotional health. Elizabeth was the most over protective mother Heather knew. She always found something to worry about._

_Heather argued back mentally, pointing out that Max had smiled at Bushroot._

"_He smiled at you every time he said he was sorry and that he was a different person, too."_

"_But this was different. Yes, he was acting strange, but maybe that was because he still wasn't used to Reggie. I mean, he's half plant. If I wasn't so fascinated by him and relieved that he'd calmed me down the other day I probably would have been afraid of him, too."_

_She knew she was rationalizing, but she was annoyed with the voice in her head, with the doubts. What did it matter? She would never see either of them again. She was not going to be two-faced. She wasn't giving Max a second chance because she knew him well enough to know he wasn't sincere. She hardly knew Reggie at all and had no reason to believe he was any different from Max._

_But he had helped her with Max. Didn't that mean he was different? She wished she had an impartial friend she could talk to. All her friends hated Max for what he'd done to her. None of them would believe her story about Reggie unless they saw him for themselves. All her friends were so down to earth. Sometimes they bored her, but they were all good people and she liked them._

_She wished she could talk to the plants like Reggie did. They would probably be able to give her some good advice, an incite into Reggie that no one else had. Since she couldn't do that, she would just have to find a way to prove or disprove her doubts on her own._


	12. Bushroot's First Steps

_Bushroot took Darkwing and Launchpad to his greenhouse after they left the courtroom. Darkwing said it was best for now if they met there. Bushroot knew it was because Darkwing didn't trust him yet and didn't want to reveal his hideout, or his true identity._

_Darkwing decided the first step in reforming Bushroot would be to answer any questions Bushroot had about being a good guy. He let Launchpad answer most of Bushroot's questions. Bushroot trusted LP and Darkwing knew it was because Launchpad had believed in Bushroot to some extent before their psychic one-on-one. He also knew Darkwing was not totally convinced that this was going to work, and he thought Bushroot resented him for that somehow._

_If Darkwing had thought to ask, Bushroot would have said the resentment was because Launchpad had told him and Darkwing still didn't believe in Bushroot. Launchpad was Darkwing's best friend and Bushroot thought Darkwing didn't even trust him. If he didn't trust his best friend, why would he ever trust Bushroot? In some vague way Bushroot couldn't quite explain, he thought Darkwing was being a hypocrite._

The first question Bushroot asked was why he didn't feel good after he got Max to agree to divorce Heather. Launchpad said it was because Bushroot had stooped to Max's level. There were more subtle, less violent ways to handle the situation. Some people could be reasoned with under the right conditions. Bushroot hadn't even tried to reason with Max; he'd just reacted.

Herman had said if Bushroot didn't do evil things, he wouldn't be evil. But he hadn't done anything evil before he became a plant and he'd still been treated badly. If you got back what you gave, why had Bushroot been mistreated and then become a plant?

"Remember Twin Beaks?" Launchpad asked.

The question seemed like a non sequitur

"Yeah, sure, but-"

"You did good then, and you did it in a way that you couldn't have if you weren't a plant. Have you ever thought of the good you might be able to do as a plant?"

"So you're saying I became a plant for a reason?" Bushroot asked thoughtfully. He'd never thought of that.

"Sure. You couldn't have helped defeat the cabbages if you hadn't been a plant. You couldn't have been freed from your jail cell, and even if you had been, you couldn't have disguised yourself as well as you did.

"He's got a point," Darkwing said thoughtfully, speaking up for the first time since this conversation had started. "I never thought of it, but Launchpad's right. Since you're half plant half duck, you have a unique perspective on both sides. The cows knew that and used you to help the ducks beat the cabbages."

Bushroot looked hopefully at Darkwing. Was he finally realizing Bushroot wasn't all bad? He knew instinctively not to ask. He didn't want to rush things. If he seemed too eager, Darkwing might find reasons to doubt him even more. He wanted this to work; he wanted to be one of the good guys. He only hoped he could.

He suddenly realized that Heather wasn't the only reason he wanted to be good, and neither was Gosalyn. He really hadn't wanted to be evil. As he had told Herman, he had wanted to make the world a better place before he mutated. Launchpad was right; there was no reason he couldn't still do something good for the world, even as a plant. Maybe his being a plant would make him better able to help both ducks and plants. He had never thought of using his plant abilities for good. He had been running on his need for revenge for over a year. It had never occurred to him to take advantage of his relatively new abilities to help people instead of hurting them before they could hurt him. Launchpad's perspective on this issue gave Bushroot new hope for success, and an intense determination to prove him right.

"I'm going to do it," he thought fiercely. "I choose not to be evil anymore."

Bushroot spent the next few weeks following them at a safe distance, making sure not to be seen. Darkwing had even agreed to let him follow them on patrol as long as he kept out of sight. He wrote down any questions he had about why they did what they did and asked them later, when they were safe in the greenhouse and could talk freely. He was getting to like both of them and hoped someday they would think of him as a friend. Even Darkwing was likeable, Bushroot realized, despite his self-centered, grumpy, egotistical side.

Darkwing and Launchpad's friendship fascinated Bushroot. In some ways they were so different, but it only seemed to serve to make them better friends. Sometimes Darkwing treated Launchpad unfairly, making rude, sarcastic or mocking remarks, but from what Bushroot had seen, Launchpad didn't seem to mind. When he had a moment alone with Launchpad, he asked about it.

"I used to work for Scrooge McDuck," Launchpad said, smiling. "He used to treat me the same way sometimes; in fact he was worse in some ways than DW. But Mr. McD never meant anything by it. Neither does DW. He needs to know he's important, and he needs to tell himself he is. It's his way of dealing with his feelings when he's scared or worried about something. As for our differences making us better friends, I never thought about it before. I guess you're right. I think it's because we have a common cause, and because each of us has something the other doesn't. I can give DW the ego boost he needs when he loses his confidence. I can calm him down when he's too angry or upset to see something clearly."

"And what does he do for you?"

"He gives me a purpose. I left Mr. McD because I didn't feel needed anymore. Sometimes DW wants to handle things himself, but when he gets into trouble he knows I'm always there to help him. I know he needs me, even when he doesn't know it himself."

"It seems to me like you got the thankless part of the job."

"No, it's never thankless. Even when he doesn't show it, I know he appreciates me."

"But how do you know if he doesn't tell you?"

"There is a reason, but I can't tell you yet. It has to do with DW's secrets. I can't betray-"

"That's OK. Maybe someday Darkwing will tell me himself."

"Maybe," Launchpad said noncommittally.

He couldn't tell Bushroot that Gosalyn was the reason. DW wanted Launchpad to raise Gosalyn if anything happened to him. Gosalyn was the most important thing in DW's life. The fact that DW trusted him enough to want him to raise her told Launchpad everything he needed to know.

"Do you think he's coming around? Do you think he's starting to believe in me?"

"I think it'll be slow, but I think he's just gonna wait and see what happens. I have a feeling something's gonna happen that'll bring him around, but yah gotta be patient."

Bushroot knew that Launchpad would still be wondering himself about his sincerity if it hadn't been for the Norma Ray. He'd thought about trying to do something to prove himself; he'd considered following Darkwing and Launchpad more closely on patrol one night and trying to help if something came up, but dismissed the idea after giving it careful thought. He knew he couldn't rush things, with Darkwing or anyone else. He had a bad habit of being too impulsive, and he knew that his impulses could lead him back to evil if he let them. It would be wiser to wait until he knew how to handle situations without automatically trying to strangle his opponent with a vine.

He couldn't really blame Darkwing for doubting him. He'd had time to think about it since the day of his arraignment and had concluded that Darkwing was right to be cautious. Bushroot still had self doubts, so how could he blame others for doubting him? He had been the hypocrite, not Darkwing.

Bushroot was getting to know Gosalyn, too. She was a sweet kid, but a little obnoxious at times. In some ways, she reminded Bushroot of Darkwing. He wondered, not for the first time, how they were connected. Launchpad and Gosalyn had the same red hair, but Launchpad had said they were not related.

For her part, Gosalyn was careful not to call Darkwing "Dad" around Bushroot. Drake had stressed to the point of annoyance the importance that Bushroot not know how they were connected until they were sure they could trust him, as if Gosalyn didn't already know that. She wished her dad would give her some credit.

Darkwing was always in costume around Bushroot and was careful never to lead him to the house on Avian Way. Once the trial period was up, if Bushroot reformed, maybe he would reveal his true identity, but until then, Bushroot would only know him as Darkwing Duck. To be on the safe side, he had given Gosalyn strict orders not to tell Bushroot her last name. Gosalyn had rolled her eyes at him, but had agreed. She wanted to help and knew her dad wouldn't allow it if she went against his orders. Even if she thought it was overkill, she knew he was trying to protect her, and where his identity was concerned, he would be protecting all of them.

As Christmas approached, Launchpad noticed Bushroot getting more and more pensive and asked him about it. Bushroot was always loneliest on the holidays. He hadn't seen his family in years, and even if they weren't estranged, he wouldn't dare approach them as half plant. They had been very disappointed when he told them he would rather be a scientist than a farmer like his father, grandfather and great grandfather. They thought if farming was good enough for them, it should be good enough for him.

"What are you gonna do this Christmas?" Darkwing asked suddenly.

"I don't know; probably just hang out here."

"Well, you don't have to spend it alone this year," Launchpad said. "I could come by for a few hours."

"Really?" Bushroot brightened.

"Maybe Drake could come, too," Darkwing said unexpectedly.

Launchpad tried not to show how surprised he was.

"Drake's Gosalyn's dad," Darkwing explained to Bushroot.

"Oh, well, sure, he can come. I'd like to meet him."

"But aren't you afraid he'll figure out that you're Drake?" Launchpad asked on the way home.

"No one's figured it out so far. Besides, I promised Gosalyn I'd spend all of Christmas day with her and take the night off, unless something really big came up. With the Fearsome Five in jail, that's not likely, unless Fowl decides to make trouble. So far, they haven't done anything at Christmas."

"I guess even evil secret agent types need a vacation."

"Yeah, well, that'll make it easier for me to keep my promise to Gosalyn. Besides, I want to see how Bushroot acts around an average citizen. He's used to people running from him, or making fun of him. I saw him briefly with that woman, Heather, but I got the feeling that was another Rhoda Dendron situation waiting to happen. This way I can keep my promise as Drake and observe Bushroot as Darkwing. Drake Mallard can spend Christmas with his family while the precision mind and practiced eye of Darkwing Duck observes every nuance of his charge's behavior."

Launchpad smiled, realizing now what DW himself probably didn't know yet. Darkwing really did want to help Bushroot. The problem was he wasn't sure he could. He still doubted Bushroot and didn't want to look bad in front of the judge. Darkwing would feel partly responsible if Bushroot messed up. He had been the one to convince the judge to let them try this. DW was nervous and trying to cover it up with his customary self-promotion. Most people, especially those who didn't know "Darkwing, thought this behavior was arrogant and self-serving. Launchpad knew better. Self-serving, maybe, but not arrogant. It was a coping mechanism.

For the first time in years, Bushroot looked forward to Christmas. He even decorated his greenhouse, moving a Christmas tree in without hurting it and asking its permission to put lights and ornaments on it. The tree was glad to be asked instead of just uprooted rudely and having no choice in the matter.

Bushroot couldn't remember when he'd had so much fun on Christmas Day. He'd had a snowball fight with Drake, Launchpad and Gosalyn. Drake was a nice guy. He even brought a batch of cookies for them to share. Darkwing hadn't been able to come, so Bushroot set aside a few cookies for him. He hoped Darkwing was having a good Christmas, and especially that he had a family to share it with. No one should have to be alone at Christmas.

Drake looked directly into Bushroot's eyes after the snowball fight. He had lost the fight graciously, laughing and cheering. Drake/Darkwing could see that the laughter and cheer were genuine. Bushroot was happy just to sit with a plate of cookies in his lap, laughing and talking, and even losing a snowball fight without getting upset and trying to hurt someone. For the first time, Drake/Darkwing thought it really was possible to reform Bushroot. His doubts were fading. "Maybe we can bring him over to our side," he thought, smiling at Bushroot as he left the greenhouse, waving goodbye and wishing him a merry Christmas. He was looking forward now to the next six months. He was sure the city was going to undergo some major changes for the better with Bushroot on the good side. He had a feeling this trial period was going to be filled with some interesting and unexpected surprises. Bushroot smiled and waved back, thinking the new year would be the start of a whole new life for him. He couldn't wait to put his evil past behind him and become a person he and others could be proud of.


End file.
